Key facts
- Crypto PAC Fairshake plans to spend $30 million opposing Senator Sherrod Brown's 2026 reelection bid.
- Fairshake is funded by cryptocurrency companies Coinbase and Ripple Labs.
- In 2024, Fairshake spent $41 million supporting Bernie Moreno against Sherrod Brown.
- Brown lost the 2024 Ohio Senate race to Moreno by about four points.
- Fairshake and other PACs spent over $300 million in the 2024 Ohio Senate race.
- Fairshake had a $122 million war chest ahead of the 2024 election.
Fairshake, a political action committee largely funded by cryptocurrency companies Coinbase and Ripple Labs, has announced plans to spend $30 million opposing the reelection bid of US Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio for the 2026 election. This move follows significant spending by the PAC in the 2024 election cycle, where it contributed to Brown's loss to Republican Bernie Moreno.
In the 2024 race, Fairshake spent approximately $41 million supporting Moreno and opposing Brown, who had chaired the Senate Banking Committee when Democrats held the majority. The overall spending by Fairshake and other aligned PACs in that election exceeded $300 million, with Brown ultimately losing to Moreno by about four percentage points.
The PAC's strategy is part of a broader effort by the cryptocurrency industry to influence key races in 2026, a year when control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate will be contested. Prediction markets currently indicate a higher probability for Democrats to regain a majority in both chambers. Fairshake spokesperson Geoff Vetter confirmed the planned $30 million expenditure to Cointelegraph and noted that additional spending could be announced before the November midterm elections.