Crypto's $245M Shadow Campaign
Fairshake and its affiliates ran the largest industry super PAC of 2024 — and almost never mentioned crypto in the ads.
~$160.4M in tracked spending across 6 disclosed flows.
The money, at a glance
Fairshake, a super PAC formed in March 2023 and funded primarily by Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), raised $260 million through the 2024 election cycle — placing it among the top five outside-spending groups in the country. Its two affiliated super PACs, Defend American Jobs (Republican primaries) and Protect Progress (Democratic primaries), spent a combined $92 million in independent expenditures while Fairshake itself spent an additional $40.7 million directly. Together the three entities disbursed nearly $196 million across the 2024 cycle per FEC filings. Heading into 2026, Fairshake reported $125.8 million in cash on hand (FEC-confirmed) and a combined war chest across all three entities described in contemporaneous reporting as $193 million, again among the best-funded outside groups in the country. Despite being funded entirely by the digital-assets sector, the vast majority of ads Fairshake and its affiliates ran in 2024 focused on immigration, inflation, China competition, and healthcare — topics chosen to resonate with swing voters rather than disclose the sponsor's actual policy interest. The PAC backed the winning candidate in 33 of 35 contested primaries it entered. Its marquee win was the Ohio Senate race, where Defend American Jobs spent over $40 million to boost Republican Bernie Moreno against Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown.
The funders
Fairshake
Pro-crypto deregulationCrypto-industry-aligned · FEC C00835959
- • Coinbase (~$93.5M total 2024 cycle)
- • Ripple Labs (~$45M)
- • AH Capital Management / a16z (~$67M as entity)
- • Marc Andreessen (~$33.5M personal)
- • Ben Horowitz (~$33.5M personal)
- • Jump Trading (~$25M)
- • Winklevoss Capital (~$4.9M)
Electing a 'bipartisan' Congress supportive of 'clear rules for the digital economy' and opposing incumbents the industry views as hostile to digital assets.
Defend American Jobs
Republican-lane pro-cryptoCrypto-industry-aligned · FEC C00836221
- • Fairshake (via transfers)
- • Coinbase
- • Ripple Labs
Supports Republican candidates aligned with the crypto industry's regulatory agenda; runs positive and contrast ads focused on mainstream economic and security themes.
Protect Progress
Democratic-lane pro-cryptoCrypto-industry-aligned · FEC C00848440
- • Fairshake (via transfers)
- • Coinbase
- • Ripple Labs
Supports Democratic candidates aligned with the crypto industry's regulatory agenda; runs positive and contrast ads emphasizing Democratic policy themes.
Where the money went
National
FEC-confirmed transfers from Fairshake to its two affiliated super PACs during the 2024 cycle. [source]
Ohio
Defend American Jobs spent over $40M supporting Republican Bernie Moreno against incumbent Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown. Moreno won by ~3.5 points. Ads focused on immigration, China, and energy prices — not crypto. [source]
California
Fairshake spent $10M+ opposing Rep. Katie Porter in the California Democratic Senate primary; ads claimed she took money from Big Pharma, Big Oil, and big banks (rated 'mostly false' by the Sacramento Bee). Porter lost to Adam Schiff. [source]
Michigan
Protect Progress spent ~$10M supporting Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan's open Senate seat. Ads emphasized border security and economic themes. Slotkin won. [source]
Arizona
Protect Progress spent ~$10M supporting Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego against Republican Kari Lake in the Arizona Senate race. Gallego won. [source]
Massachusetts
Defend American Jobs spent ~$4.2M backing Republican challenger John Deaton against incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren won. [source]
What the money is saying
Fairshake's 2024 ads deliberately avoided mentioning cryptocurrency. Across Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, and Minnesota, ads focused on immigration, inflation, China, energy prices, and healthcare — whatever polled best locally. CNBC reported the $245M operation 'filled airwaves with ads not about crypto.' [source]
In Ohio, Defend American Jobs portrayed Bernie Moreno as aligned with Trump's economic agenda and framed Sherrod Brown as weak on the border and China — promising lower gas and grocery prices and energy independence. No ad mentioned crypto or Moreno's founding of a blockchain company. [source]
The tri-PAC structure — Protect Progress for Democratic primaries, Defend American Jobs for Republican primaries — lets a single pool of crypto money target anti-crypto incumbents in both parties without being identified as partisan. Public Citizen characterized it as 'cryptobros united' behind a bipartisan wrapper. [source]
Read the framing carefully
The bipartisan shell structure is the central story. Two separately named affiliates — 'Defend American Jobs' for Republicans, 'Protect Progress' for Democrats — let Fairshake neutralize anti-crypto incumbents in either party's primaries without appearing ideologically aligned. The names are marketing, not mission descriptions. Running ads about immigration and grocery prices — funded by Coinbase and Ripple — is a form of laundered influence: voters saw the ads without knowing who paid for them or why. One caveat: the 33-of-35 primary win rate is real but isn't proof of pure causal power — several targeted incumbents were already polling behind. The 2026 $193M figure is partly FEC-confirmed ($125.8M in Fairshake alone) and partly January 2026 reporting aggregating all three entities.
Receipts
- Federal Election Commission: FEC: Fairshake committee financial summary (C00835959)
- Federal Election Commission: FEC: Defend American Jobs financial summary (C00836221)
- Federal Election Commission: FEC: Protect Progress financial summary (C00848440)
- CoinDesk: Crypto PACs Dominate Ohio Senate Race, Spending $40M on Sherrod Brown's Foe · 2024-09-26
- Axios: Crypto PAC Fairshake has already raised $193 million for 2026 · 2026-01-28
- Public Citizen: Cryptobros United: Crypto Super PACs Amass Over $100 Million for 2024 Elections