Crypto PACs Sit Pretty After $8M Primary Haul — Congress, Consider Yourself Warned 🏛️

Cryptocurrency-aligned political action committees spent more than $8 million to back candidates in Tuesday's primaries in Maryland, New York and Utah, winning several of the races they targeted and signaling the industry's continued influence over the makeup of the next US Congress. The spending spanned both parties and was anchored by Fairshake, the super PAC backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, alongside affiliates Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, as well as Fellowship PAC, which disclosed $300,000 from Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital to support New York Democrat Ritchie Torres.

In New York's 15th congressional district, Torres won the Democratic primary with 71.9% of the vote. In Utah's 2nd district, Republican Blake Moore, who received more than $400,000 from Defend American Jobs, won with 57.5%. In Maryland's 5th district, Adrian Boafo secured the Democratic nomination with 32% of the vote after Protect Progress reported $5.5 million in expenditures on his behalf, including about $24,000 opposing Quincy Bareebe and $74,000 opposing Harry Dunn. Protect Progress also reported more than $516,000 on media for April McClain Delaney in Maryland's 6th district and $1.4 million supporting Torres in New York.

Not all candidates backed by crypto spending prevailed. Democrat Alex Bores, whose campaign drew a $3.5 million expenditure from Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen, lost New York's 12th district primary to Micah Lasher. Protect Progress, meanwhile, drew criticism from several Maryland primary contenders, with Dunn, Bareebe and Rushern Baker issuing a June 15 statement asking Governor Moore, Senator Alsobrooks and Congressman Hoyer whether they supported "nearly $8 million in outside spending from crypto billionaires and AIPAC in a Maryland Democratic primary." Fairshake spokesperson Geoff Vetter said of the group's strategy: "We went big and we went early. We did our part to move Adrian Boafo from fifth place to the halls of Congress."

The expenditures followed what Fairshake called "the biggest spend of the cycle" in last week's Alabama primary runoff, where more than $12 million supported Republican Barry Moore's win. Fairshake has reported $150 million cash on hand since June, and additional 2026 spending has been disclosed by the Blockchain Leadership Fund, a hybrid PAC backed by Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs.

Attention is expected to shift to Colorado and Arizona, which hold primaries on June 30 and July 21, respectively, though no significant spending had been disclosed in those states as of Wednesday. In 2024, Fairshake and its affiliates spent more than $10 million on media supporting Ruben Gallego's successful Arizona Senate bid and $2.1 million on Colorado's 8th district Democratic Representative Yadira Caraveo, who lost her November 2024 race to Republican Gabe Evans.