A crypto-focused political action committee (PAC) called FairShake plans to invest more than $40 million in the remaining weeks of the 2024 US election.
This comes after the PAC has already spent $140 million on multiple congressional races across the country. Major industry players such as Coinbase Global Inc. and Ripple Labs are funding Fairshake.
Fairshake’s bipartisan approach influences the pro-crypto narrative
Bloomberg reports that PACs are prepared to pump more money into both parties as election week approaches.
FairShake has successfully wooed several anti-cryptocurrency candidates in polls in recent months. One notable target was Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Banking Committee.
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A FairShake-backed PAC has directed $40 million to support Republican challenger Bernie Moreno since August, according to a recent report in the Washington Post. After that, Moreno narrowed the gap to Brown by six points, and the outcome of the race was uncertain.
FairShake positions itself as a bipartisan influencer, aiming to push candidates from both parties to take crypto issues seriously. It runs two PACs: Defend American Jobs, which supports Republicans, and Protect Progress, which supports Democrats.
However, FairShake’s political ads rarely mention cryptocurrencies or blockchain directly. Instead, they focus on individual candidates. In one example, an ad promoting Bernie Moreno emphasizes his family background and his stance on energy, which is consistent with Donald Trump.
A series of aggressive marketing campaigns
Earlier this year, FairShake entered the political fray in February by spending $10 million on an ad questioning the integrity of California Senate candidate Katie Porter, who has opposed pro-cryptocurrency legislation.
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Although Porter ultimately lost to Representative Adam Schiff, the crypto industry saw the result as a victory for its strategy of weakening its opponents.
“Fairshake, who was backed by three major crypto investors/companies, didn’t care about Porter at all. Rather, the purpose of the attack campaign was to scare other politicians, and Silicon Valley The goal was to draw attention to the financial power of Silicon Valley and demonstrate how powerful Silicon Valley’s economic power is. “Leaders can engage in political brutality to protect their own 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 Rep. Jamal Bowman and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush. Both men opposed crypto-friendly legislation that would limit SEC oversight of the industry.
Fairshake spent $2 million on Bowman and $1.4 million on Bush.
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On the Democratic side, FairShake affiliate Protect Progress invested more than $10 million in Michigan to support Elissa Slotkin’s Senate campaign. While serving on the House Agriculture Committee, Slotkin was a supporter of a bill to promote cryptocurrencies.
In Arizona, the group spent another $10 million to support Ruben Gallego, who is running against Kali Lake.
FairShake received an $800,000 donation from blockchain software company ConsenSys in September, according to the latest filings from the Federal Election Commission. This suggests that PACs still have large amounts of money at their disposal even though the election is approaching.
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