On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency political action committee (PAC) Fairshake declared victory, claiming that six of its favored congressional candidates – backed by over $20 million in industry funding – had won primary races across the country.
Crypto’s Role Questioned
However, questions remain about whether cryptocurrency played a decisive role in the previous night’s elections.
Fairshake, primarily funded by Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Ripple, supported five Republican candidates and one Democrat in Tuesday’s midterm primaries. Notably, all five Republican candidates had also received endorsements from former President Donald Trump.
The election results underscored Trump’s continued influence over the Republican base, even as his approval ratings decline among the broader electorate. In Kentucky, Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL, defeated Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a well-regarded lawmaker who had drawn the former president’s ire for advocating the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and criticizing the U.S.’s ongoing involvement in the war with Iran.
“Do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power,” said Steven Cheung, the White House’s director of communications, following the results. “Fuck around, find out.”
Tuesday’s primaries were widely viewed as a test of Trump’s sway over engaged Republican primary voters, and in that regard, the former president appeared to secure a decisive victory.
In a statement, Fairshake celebrated the victories of its endorsed candidates as “a clear victory for pro-crypto leaders.”
“This powerful bipartisan mandate is being heard across America from Georgia to Alabama to Kentucky,” a Fairshake spokesperson said.
However, every Republican primary winner supported by the crypto PAC – Alabama Senate candidate Barry Moore, Kentucky Senate candidate Andy Barr, and Georgia congressional candidates Houston Gaines, Jim Kingston, and Clay Fuller – had previously received Trump’s endorsement.
The sole Democratic congressional candidate backed by Fairshake on Tuesday, Georgia’s Jasmine Clark, was previously in a tight race with Rep. David Scott, an incumbent who had served in the House for over 20 years. However, Scott passed away last month at the age of 80.
Limited Crypto Influence?
Further suggesting a limited influence of crypto in Tuesday’s races, Fairshake did not run any advertisements on the subject of digital assets.
A source familiar with the campaigns supported by Fairshake, however, emphasized that the super PAC spent millions of dollars on ads highlighting Trump’s endorsements, a factor they argued had a significant impact.
“Trump’s endorsement obviously matters a ton, but it also needs to be communicated to voters,” the source said.
Fairshake’s nearly $200 million spending on the 2026 midterms comes as special interest spending on U.S. elections reaches all-time highs. The high-profile defeat of Massie, a Trump critic, marked the most expensive House primary in American history, with total ad spending exceeding $32 million for a district with a population under 800,000.
Pro-Israel super PACs, which have sought to unseat Massie for years, made the single largest contribution to that sum. Unlike the crypto PAC, ads run by pro-Israel PACs in the Massie race actually mentioned Israel.
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