Fairshake Crypto PACs Report $2.7M Spending Blitz on House Races as Midterms Loom

Published October 13, 2026, 06:00 PKT. Based on Federal Election Commission filings dated October 10, 2026, as reported by CoinTelegraph on October 13, 2026.

Crypto-backed political money is flooding House races with less than a month to go before the midterm elections. Two affiliates of Fairshake, the crypto industry political action committee, reported a combined $2.7 million in ad buys and direct mail in Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings on Saturday, October 10, according to CoinTelegraph.

The $2.7 million in FEC filings

The filings came from Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, two PACs tied to Fairshake, and covered spending on media and direct mail production supporting Democratic and Republican candidates running for U.S. House of Representatives seats in 2026, the report said. Fairshake is funded largely by contributions from investment banking company Cantor Fitzgerald, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Ripple Labs, according to the report.

The filings landed just days after Fairshake announced plans to endorse an additional 32 House candidates in 2026, including six races slated to receive $1 million each in supportive media. Those six races were not part of the October 10 spending reports, but several of the incumbents in the filings were on the endorsement list.

Where the money went

The disclosed spending shows the biggest checks going to House Democrats. More than $512,000 went toward media supporting California Representative Pete Aguilar and $500,000 toward New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer, according to the FEC reports.

Republican leadership drew smaller but notable sums: more than $76,000 for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, the filings showed.

Fairshake's $122 million war chest

The $2.7 million is a fraction of what the group has in reserve. A Fairshake spokesperson said in August that the PAC had $122 million in cash on hand for its midterm strategy of electing more self-described "pro-crypto" candidates to Congress, the report said.

That strategy is not only about backing allies. At least $30 million is allocated to media buys opposing the election of former Senate banking committee chair Sherrod Brown in Ohio's Senate race. While in office, Brown was one of the leading Democrats voting against bills the crypto industry considered favorable, according to the report.

The CLARITY Act stakes

The filings point to a concrete legislative goal. Every candidate backed in the October 10 reports voted for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in 2025, the bill that would set market structure rules for the crypto industry, including giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority over digital assets. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support but failed to pass a procedural vote in the Senate in September.

The message to lawmakers who let it die is already explicit. Stand With Crypto, a Coinbase-launched initiative that ranks politicians on their voting records, warned after the failed Senate vote that candidates who failed to advance crypto legislation could face "consequences" in the midterms, the report said. The group has said it is mobilizing crypto-minded voters for the 2026 races, as it did in 2024.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• Federal Election Commission, FEC filings by Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress (Oct. 10, 2026), primary source for the $2.7 million in spending and the candidate-level figures
• CoinTelegraph, Crypto PACs report $2.7M spending blitz on House races as midterms loom (Oct. 13, 2026), primary source for the report framing, the $122 million cash on hand, the Sherrod Brown opposition spending and the Stand With Crypto warning
• CryptoBreaking, Crypto PACs Spend $2.7M in House Races as Midterms Approach (Oct. 12, 2026), secondary source for the CLARITY Act voting link
• CryptoCompass, Crypto PACs report $2.7M spending blitz on House races as midterms loom (Oct. 12, 2026), secondary source for the Cantor Fitzgerald, Coinbase and Ripple funding details