Crypto’s largest political spending network has increased its campaign against Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, with a new federal filing putting the total disclosed spending against him at about $46.66 million. The figure makes Brown the crypto industry’s most expensive target in the 2026 election cycle.
New spending disclosed in Ohio
According to Decrypt, the Federal Election Commission filing, signed on October 15, shows that Defend American Jobs reported a $5.2 million media purchase opposing Brown. The Fairshake affiliate disclosed a further media buy of roughly $1.95 million several days later, in addition to media-production expenses.
The filing also recorded spending supporting Brown’s Republican opponent, Jon Husted. Husted inherited the Ohio Senate seat after being appointed last year.
Fairshake had previously indicated that it planned to spend at least $30 million opposing Brown. The latest filing shows that the political action committee network has already moved well beyond that amount, and that the Ohio contest is absorbing substantially more money than its other targets.
Why the race matters to the crypto industry
Brown is a longtime critic of cryptocurrency and previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee. During his time in that position, he opposed or held up market-structure legislation, including the Clarity Act, according to the source material.
Brown lost his Senate seat in 2024 in a race in which Fairshake spent about $40 million to influence the outcome. His return to the Senate would give crypto skeptics a prominent voice on the Banking Committee, which plays a central role in debates over financial-market and digital-asset rules.
The latest spending follows the Clarity Act’s failure to advance in the Senate. Fairshake’s campaign strategy is therefore focused not only on individual candidates, but also on changing the congressional membership that will decide future crypto legislation.
Fairshake expands its congressional campaign
On October 5, the Fairshake network said it would support 32 House incumbents: 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats. It initially committed $6 million, allocating $1 million each to six lawmakers:
- Republicans French Hill, Bill Huizenga and Bryan Steil
- Democrats Janelle Bynum, Steven Horsford and Derek Tran
All 32 lawmakers voted to advance the Clarity Act when the House passed it in July 2025. Fairshake describes itself as an issue-focused organization supporting pro-crypto candidates from both parties.
The group is funded largely by Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz. It entered September with approximately $120 million in cash and is expected to spend more than $100 million across House and Senate races during the current cycle. The Coinbase-backed advocacy group Stand With Crypto is running a separate campaign of midterm endorsements alongside it.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 21:48 on October 17, 2026, showed Filecoin (FIL) at $1.05425, down 6.25% over 24 hours and 6.20% over seven days. AKEDO (AKE) was $0.029141, down 2.26% in 24 hours but up 6.53% over seven days.
SuperVerse (SUPER) stood at $0.185679, falling 8.32% over 24 hours and 16.51% over seven days. Loaded Lions (LION) was $0.001243, down 0.72% over 24 hours and 9.82% over seven days.
