Crypto PAC Fairshake to Spend $40 Million More in Final Weeks of the US Election

A crypto-focused political action committee (PAC) called Fairshake plans to invest over $40 million in the remaining weeks of the 2024 US elections. 

This comes after the PAC has already spent $140 million on multiple Congressional races across the country. Major industry players like Coinbase Global Inc. and Ripple Labs are funding Fairshake. 

Fairshake’s Bipartisan Approach to Influence Pro-crypto Narratives

Bloomberg report indicates that the PAC is prepared to funnel more funds to both parties as election week approaches. 

Fairshake has successfully swayed several anti-crypto candidates in the polls in recent months. One of its notable targets was Ohio’s Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, the chair of the banking committee. 

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A recent report from The Washington Post showed that a Fairshake-backed PAC has directed $40 million since August to support Republican challenger Bernie Moreno. Moreno has since closed Brown’s six-point lead, leaving the outcome of the race uncertain.

Positioning itself as a bipartisan influence, Fairshake aims to push candidates from both parties to take crypto issues seriously. It operates two PACs: Defend American Jobs, which supports Republicans, and Protect Progress, backing Democrats.

However, Fairshake’s political ads rarely mention cryptocurrency or blockchain directly. Instead, they focus on the individual candidates. In one instance, ads promoting Bernie Moreno highlight his family background and his stance on energy, which aligns with Donald Trump.

Series of Aggressive Marketing Campaigns

Earlier this year, Fairshake entered the political fray by spending $10 million in February on ads questioning the integrity of Katie Porter, a California Senate candidate who has opposed pro-crypto legislation. 

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Porter eventually lost to Representative Adam Schiff, a result the crypto industry viewed as a win for its strategy of undermining its opponents.

“Fairshake, which was backed by three major crypto investors/companies, didn’t really care about Porter, rather, the goal of the attack campaign was to terrify other politicians … to draw attention to Silicon Valley’s financial might—and to prove that its leaders are capable of political savagery in order to protect their interests,” said NYT bestselling author, Charles Duhigg, in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter). 

The PAC also contributed to the primary defeats of New York Representative Jamaal Bowman and Missouri Representative Cori Bush. Both of them opposed crypto-friendly legislation that would limit the SEC’s oversight of the industry. 

Fairshake spent $2 million targeting Bowman and $1.4 million against Bush.

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On the Democratic side, Fairshake’s affiliate, Protect Progress, has invested over $10 million in Michigan to support Elissa Slotkin’s Senate run. Slotkin has been a supporter of pro-crypto legislation during her time on the House Agriculture Committee.

In Arizona, the group has also spent another $10 million backing Ruben Gallego, who is running against Kari Lake.

The latest filing from the Federal Election Commission shows that Fairshake received a $800,000 contribution from blockchain software firm ConsenSys in September. This suggests that the PAC still has significant funds at its disposal as the election approaches.

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