Crypto political group plans to spend $30 million against Sherrod Brown's Senate bid

The crypto industry’s leading super PAC, Fairshake, has announced a $30 million independent spending campaign aimed at defeating Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s U.S. Senate contest. Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter confirmed the commitment and said the PAC will provide more details on its late-stage strategy in the coming days. The expenditure is the largest single-candidate industry outlay reported so far in this midterm cycle. Fairshake’s decision echoes its prior $40 million campaign against Brown two years ago, an effort the industry says contributed to his 2024 defeat and helped clear a legislative obstacle in the Senate. Brown had been a persistent critic of the digital-assets sector while serving as chair of the Senate Banking Committee, where the industry repeatedly failed to advance major market-structure legislation. After Brown’s 2024 departure, pro-crypto Senator Bernie Moreno succeeded to the seat and the committee subsequently moved major stablecoin regulation and nearly completed work on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Industry backers tied to Fairshake include firms and affiliates connected with Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), according to the reporting. Fairshake has deployed large sums across multiple races: the PAC spent about $12 million in the Alabama Senate primary to support Barry Moore’s nomination and more than $10 million in an unsuccessful effort to block Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in a primary. Despite these investments and backing roughly 53 members of Congress two years ago, the industry has not yet secured all of its top federal policy objectives. Fairshake’s new $30 million pledge comes as the Ohio contest remains competitive. A recent poll of 1,000 likely Ohio voters showed Brown leading incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted 48% to 45%, while prediction market Polymarket currently places Brown’s chance of victory at about 57%. Sherrod Brown’s campaign responded to the Fairshake announcement with a statement from campaign manager Patrick Eisenhauer accusing Husted of being influenced by wealthy donors and corporations. Fairshake says it still has more than $90 million available to spend during the general election period, reflecting the broader trend of independent super PAC spending playing a growing role in U.S. federal races.