Crypto firms spend $189 million to sway 2026 U.S. midterms

Crypto companies have already spent $189 million on the 2026 U.S. midterms, outpacing what the industry spent in the last election cycle and making digital assets the biggest corporate political spender so far. That total accounts for more than one-third of all corporate money contributed to the November elections and the primary contests leading up to them, with all 435 House seats and roughly one-third of Senate seats on the ballot.

The money is moving through political action committees and super PACs. Andreessen Horowitz, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com-affiliated Foris DAX and Coinbase are the top four crypto-related PAC contributors, while Fairshake has entered the cycle with more than $193 million in cash on hand and has already moved into specific contests, including Rep. Barry Moore in Alabama’s Senate race and Rep. Al Green in Texas’s House race.

That spending lands in the middle of a Washington fight over enforcement, market structure, stablecoin rules, token classification and consumer protection. Public Citizen put crypto spending at $170 million in the 2024 election cycle, and many of the candidates it backed won their races. The industry is pressing for a clearer legal framework for exchanges and token oversight.

Crypto is not the only industry putting money into the 2026 cycle. Public Citizen put artificial intelligence, big tech and online betting companies, combined with crypto, at $294 million so far, or 57 percent of the $517 million in disclosed corporate midterm spending. The group put the 2026 total at nearly one-third of the $1.58 billion corporations have spent since Citizens United v. FEC in 2010. “The big takeaway is that corporate money is playing a bigger role than ever in our elections, and it’s only expanding,” Rick Claypool, Public Citizen’s research director.