Crypto PACs Ramp Up Spending Against Sherrod Brown

Industry PACs Boost Spending to Oppose Senator Sherrod Brown

At least two industry-aligned political action committees (PACs) have collectively injected over $52 million into efforts to prevent Sherrod Brown’s return to the Senate. Affiliates of the Fairshake PAC, significantly funded by cryptocurrency firms Coinbase and Ripple Labs, have escalated their initial spending plans by more than 50%, signaling the potential importance of this race for control of Congress in 2026.

Fairshake Affiliate Dominates Spending in Ohio Senate Race

Filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Thursday revealed that Defend American Jobs, a group associated with Fairshake that supports Republican candidates, spent $46.6 million on media campaigns targeting former lawmaker Sherrod Brown and promoting Republican incumbent Jon Husted in Ohio’s 2026 Senate race. This expenditure represents a substantial increase from Fairshake’s September announcement of a $30 million plan to oppose Brown’s Senate bid.

Senator Brown, in an interview aired Friday on Pod Save America, addressed the attack ads funded by the crypto industry, stating, “I’ve spent my career taking on Wall Street, taking on big pharma, taking on big oil and been successful in many cases.”

Digital Freedom Fund Also Increases Ad Spending

With early voting already underway in Ohio for nearly three weeks, Fairshake’s affiliate was not the sole crypto-aligned PAC to ramp up its spending. The Digital Freedom Fund, a Super PAC established by Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, reported approximately $3 million in ad spending this week aimed at opposing Brown and supporting Husted. This brings the group’s total media investment in the Ohio Senate race to over $5.9 million.

Fairshake’s current expenditures have already surpassed its 2024 efforts, when the PAC allocated $41 million to support Republican Bernie Moreno and oppose Brown, who was then seeking reelection. During his tenure, the Democratic senator chaired the Senate Banking Committee and was a vocal critic of policies favored by the cryptocurrency industry.

Fairshake Expands Focus Beyond Ohio

The Ohio race is not Fairshake’s sole focus as the midterm elections approach. Defend American Jobs also reported spending more than $6.7 million to oppose Independent candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska’s Senate race. Osborn is competing against Republican Pete Ricketts, who, during his time in office, voted in favor of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act.

Cointelegraph reached out to Fairshake and Husted’s campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Fairshake has been transparent about its objective to “back pro-crypto candidates” in 2026, aiming to populate the next congressional session with lawmakers supportive of industry-backed policies. The PAC reported in January that it held $193 million in cash reserves in anticipation of the elections.

Beyond PACs like Fairshake and Digital Freedom Fund, other organizations with ties to the crypto sector have also engaged in efforts to influence 2026 voters. The Fellowship committee, backed by Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital, reported spending over $11 million between August 2025 and August 2026, primarily on media supporting candidates for the House and Senate.