Crypto PAC Fairshake Continues to Deploy $40M in Final Week of Election

Key Points:

• Crypto PAC Fairshake plans to spend over $40 million in the final weeks of the 2024 U.S. elections.
• Despite controversy over its bipartisan spending, Fairshake’s ads focus on candidates rather than crypto issues.

According to Bloomberg, crypto PAC Fairshake is projected to make big splashes in the final stretch of the 2024 U.S. elections as a political action committee on behalf of cryptocurrency interests.

Read more: Crypto PAC Fairshake Raised $29M Ahead of Fierce Political Race

Crypto PAC Fairshake Poised for $40 Million Election Push

Crypto PAC Fairshake is set to spend more than $40 million over the coming weeks, adding to the $140 million it has already deployed in Congressional races across the country.

Backed by major players such as Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Fairshake is wielding its power in some key contests. During the past four months, the PAC has spent $40 million in support of Bernie Moreno, the Republican challenger to Democratic incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

Its influence extends beyond the direct outlays. In Nevada, for instance, where none of the crypto-related PACs has run any active ads, both Senate candidates have tacked on pro-crypto positions to their platforms. Backers of Fairshake are framing it as a win – one possible read is that the candidates are looking to curry favour with the industry or at least not become a target.

Fairshake’s Strategy: Influence Without Saying Crypto

Still, Fairshake’s bipartisan spending has proved controversial. Ron Conway, a San Francisco Bay Area venture capitalist and Fairshake donor, publicly chided Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and other industry leaders for backing Moreno, a Trump-aligned candidate.

Fairshake’s ads rarely mention cryptocurrency or blockchain and tout the candidates themselves, such as one that promotes Moreno’s family values and that he shares Trump’s energy policies.

In February, the super PAC dropped $10 million attacking Katie Porter, a candidate for California’s Senate seat who opposed pro-crypto legislation. When Porter lost her primary to Adam Schiff, the crypto industry interpreted the result as a vindication of Fairshake’s strategy: trash opponents and boost favourable ones.