The Stand with Crypto bus tour across five battleground states kicked off last week in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Logan Dobson/Standing with the Crypto Alliance
LAS VEGAS — In Nevada's 4th Congressional District, a crypto political action committee has spent nearly $2 million on ads this cycle to support the re-election of Steven Horsford, a Democratic congressman who voted for some key pro-crypto bills.
But when you watch the ads, you learn nothing about that agenda.
“He drives jobs, brings good-paying union jobs to Nevada and rebuilds our infrastructure,” the 30-second ad says. “He capped insulin prices at $35 a month” and “worked multiple jobs to support his hard-working mother and siblings.”
The ad concludes by revealing that “Fairshake is responsible for the content of this ad.”
Fairshake was the largest crypto-aligned political action committee in the 2024 election cycle, spending piles of money to support crypto allies and outvote opponents across the country. The group raised $170 million, a significant portion of the amount raised by cryptocurrency-related political action committees and other groups, which totaled more than $245 million, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Cryptocurrencies accounted for nearly half of the corporate money flowing into elections, according to a report by the nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen. There is no other sector close. This includes oil companies and banks, which have historically been major political contributors. Cryptocurrencies even outperformed Elon Musk, the world's richest person, who spent tens of millions of dollars trying to return Republican nominee former President Donald Trump to the White House in his contest against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
A big part of the cryptocurrency industry's strategy when it comes to distributing cash has been to identify key races and then flood the area.
The industry advocacy group “Stand With Crypto Alliance” was launched by Coinbase Last year, it developed a rating system for the presidential race and for House and Senate candidates across the country, which helped it decide where to spend.
Horsford received an A grade based on his public comments and voting record while in office. His campaign received money from Fairshake as well as individual donations from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, venture capitalist and longtime cryptocurrency investor Reed Hoffman, and billionaire twins Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss.
Nevada is home to two of the thirteen “crucial elections” designated by Stand with Crypto, a designation the group identifies as races “critical to the future of cryptocurrencies in America.” In addition to the election of Horsford, the other race in Nevada is the Senate race between the current Democratic candidate, Jacky Rosen, and his Republican challenger, Sam Brown. Both candidates received an A grade.
According to data shared by Stand with Crypto, 385,000 Nevada residents are cryptocurrency holders, and more than 16,000 people in the state have signed up to be advocates for the group, which stopped in Las Vegas in September as part of a multi-state tour. .
Other races considered crucial were for Senate in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin and Maryland, and for specific House contests in Colorado, Iowa and Oregon.
To reach potential voters, Fairshake doesn't talk much about cryptocurrencies. Not even its political action committees, which have names like Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress. They have collectively spent more than $135 million this cycle, most of it on advertising.
“Not explicitly mentioning crypto assets may be a smart move to avoid alienating voters who prefer traditional currencies and may be put off by associations with cryptocurrencies,” said David Nickerson, an associate professor of political science at Temple University who worked in Temple University's analytics department. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012.
The biggest single target of crypto money this cycle has been Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Brown supported Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, in holding hearings on whether digital tokens are linked to terrorism.
In December, Brown told reporters that he was not concerned about the cryptocurrency industry grumbling against him.
“Bring them on,” Brown was quoted as saying by Politico to a crowd of reporters.
About $40 million in cryptocurrency money was directed toward defeating Brown, and a super PAC paid for five ads designed to boost awareness of her Republican challenger, Bernie Moreno, a blockchain entrepreneur. The race is crucial in determining which party will control the Senate.
Protect Progress, Fairshake's political action committee, has given more than $10 million each to Senate candidates in Arizona and Michigan. In Arizona, the group favors Democrat Ruben Gallego, who is running for the seat vacated by Kyrsten Sinema. In Michigan, the preferred choice is Elissa Slotkin, a current Democratic member of the House of Representatives.
Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California lost in her Senate primary after Fairshake spent more than $10 million in ads against her. American Jobs Defense spent more than $3 million to support Republican Jim Justice in West Virginia, who was declared the winner, replacing outgoing Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.
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