The crypto industry super PAC has a 33-2 advantage in primaries, with $100 million allocated for House and Senate races.

• In 33 out of 35 House and Senate primary races, a super PAC funded by a small group of crypto companies supported the winning candidate.
• The general election season begins with Fairshake PAC, a crypto-friendly political action committee, boasting a solid track record and $100 million in funds to support pro-crypto Congress members.
• The PAC has spent tens of millions on ads that rarely mention crypto, instead focusing on messages about "fairness" and "integrity."

In congressional primaries on Tuesday night, a super PAC backed by leading crypto companies recorded several successes, marking another triumph for the burgeoning force in American campaign finance.

The crypto industry-aligned Fairshake PAC will spend more than $100 million during the general election campaign season to elect pro-crypto lawmakers to the House and Senate.

On Tuesday night, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., lost his primary to Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Despite his vocal criticisms of Israel, Bowman's loss was also influenced by the $2 million spent by crypto's Fairshake PAC on an ad critical of him.

On Tuesday, Fairshake and its two affiliated PACs, one for Republicans and one for Democrats, quietly achieved six victories as the candidates they supported easily won their races, although none of them were competitive. Among these wins was Rep. John Curtis's successful bid for the Republican nomination for Utah's open Senate seat.

In the 2024 election cycle, Fairshake PAC, established last year through a joint initiative of over a dozen crypto companies, has become one of the top-spending political action committees.

According to AdImpact, Fairshake and its two affiliated PACs have spent over $37 million on advertisements in primary races.

Although Fairshake aims to safeguard the entire $2.2 trillion crypto market, it receives funding from a limited number of donors.

Since its inception, Fairshake has received a total of $160 million in contributions. Out of this amount, approximately $155 million, or 94%, can be traced back to just four companies: Ripple, Andreesen Horowitz, Coinbase, and Jump Crypto.

The crypto industry plans to deploy more than just money this fall, as the non-profit Stand With Crypto has collected over 1.1 million email addresses of crypto "advocates" with the aim of engaging them all the way to the ballot box.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are becoming increasingly aware of the power of crypto groups, particularly those facing tough elections next year, where a small number of voters or a significant donation could significantly impact not only individual races but also which party controls each chamber.

Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, stated that this is a "pivotal moment" for crypto due to the "coordinated, unified approach" surrounding Fairshake.

Garlinghouse stated on CNBC that this industry has been lagging behind in Washington and has been playing defensively.

In the aftermath of Sam Bankman-Fried's rise and fall, crypto groups are now positioning themselves as more mature and serious players in the industry.

Faryar Shirzad, the Chief Policy Officer of Coinbase who previously worked at the White House and Goldman Sachs, stated that the industry recognizes the importance of not only interacting with lawmakers but also collaborating with crypto and blockchain owners to amplify their political influence.

"We discovered a humorous truth: the only way to remove politics from crypto is to establish a political operation that balanced the playing field."

He stated that the group aims to incorporate a grassroots movement to include "Americans who own crypto in the decision-making process."

The group intends to focus on the House and Senate races in the upcoming months, rather than the presidential race.

Officials in the crypto industry are closely monitoring states like Ohio and Montana, where Democratic incumbents who are skeptical of crypto are facing opponents who support the technology.

In Ohio, a blockchain startup founder named Bernie Moreno is challenging Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, who is known for being a vocal critic of cryptocurrency.

In Montana, Republican candidate Tim Sheehy has stated that crypto is the future of finance and the internet, while Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester has expressed his skepticism towards crypto, calling it "bull****" and stating that it does not "pass the smell test."

As Tester faces a challenging reelection battle in the Senate, his stance on crypto seems to be evolving.

Several crypto bills are being considered by the Senate, and the tester has stated that he is keeping an open mind about them.

"Tester stated to reporters on June 12 in the Capitol that the technology being used in the 21st century was unbelievable, just like he thought fax machines were a scam."

The criticized SEC guidance on crypto was voted to be overturned by one of 11 Democrats, Tester.

Two Democratic senators, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Jackie Rosen of Nevada, both face challenging reelection battles and voted for the bill.

Rep. Elisa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is running for an open Senate seat, voted for both overturning the SEC guidance and a bill to establish a market structure for digital assets in the House.

The extent to which crypto will impact November's elections and the number of votes swayed by candidates' crypto positions remains uncertain.

The Federal Reserve's May survey revealed that 7% of Americans have utilized or owned crypto in the past year, which is 5 percentage points lower than the 2021 survey.

The relatively small pool of crypto users is something that the industry's political ad makers are aware of, as issues like the economy, immigration, and abortion impact more people on a larger scale.

Fairshake-funded ads focus on broader issues like fairness and integrity rather than candidates' stance on crypto.

In the California primary season, Fairshake ran an ad attacking Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., as a "fake" and linking her to a corrupt company. The ad cost $9.7 million. Despite this, Porter lost to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is known to be more supportive of crypto than Porter.