A political action committee founded by Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss has begun spending in Texas, placing more than $81,000 behind Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton as crypto-aligned groups expand their involvement in the 2026 US midterm elections.
Digital Freedom Fund enters Texas contest
Digital Freedom Fund, a super political action committee launched by the Winklevoss brothers in 2025, disclosed the expenditure in a filing with the US Federal Election Commission. The committee said the money was used for direct-mail advertising supporting Paxton and opposing Democratic candidate James Talarico.
The spending came after early voting began in Texas on Oct. 19. Election Day is scheduled for Nov. 3. According to Cointelegraph, the PAC’s Texas advertising represents one of its first significant forays into the state’s Senate contest.
The committee reported raising approximately $34 million through Sept. 30. Its activity is part of a broader effort to support candidates viewed as favorable to cryptocurrency policies in several closely watched Senate races, including contests in Iowa and Ohio.
Paxton, a Republican, secured his party’s nomination in May after defeating incumbent Senator John Cornyn. He had already received support from another crypto-linked political committee before the primary: Fellowship PAC spent $500,000 on advertising backing Paxton. That campaign was routed through Nxum Group, a marketing company co-founded by Bo Hines.
Hines previously served as a crypto adviser to US President Donald Trump and later became chief executive of Tether US. The source material also cited an October Wall Street Journal report stating that Nxum received $6.3 million under a deal with stablecoin issuer Tether, with the first payment made while Hines was still at the White House. Cointelegraph said it contacted both campaigns for comment but had not received an immediate response.
Crypto groups intensify Ohio spending
Digital Freedom Fund’s election activity extends beyond Texas. In Ohio, the committee reported additional advertising in the Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown. Its total media purchases supporting Husted reached approximately $7 million.
Fairshake, a separate crypto-aligned super PAC backed largely by Ripple Labs, Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz, also reported substantial new spending. Its latest FEC filing showed more than $4 million in direct-mail advertising opposing independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn and another $9 million supporting Husted against Brown.
Fairshake’s total spending in the Ohio contest had reached approximately $56 million as of Wednesday, according to the source material. The figures highlight the scale of outside political spending in a race viewed by crypto-focused organizations as important for the future direction of digital-asset policy.
The political attention comes as prediction-market contracts on Kalshi and Polymarket strongly favored Democrats retaking control of both the House of Representatives and Senate in 2027. Control of either chamber would influence the prospects for legislation such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a proposed market-structure bill that failed to clear a procedural vote in the Senate the previous month.
A super PAC can raise and spend money independently to influence elections, including through advertising, but it cannot coordinate its spending directly with candidate campaigns. In this case, the disclosed advertising was aimed at voters during an active election period, when early voting was already underway in Texas.
Political money and the Texas stakes
The increased activity in Texas reflects Republican donors’ concern that the state could become more competitive. The source material said Texas races had attracted interest from donors seeking to prevent Democrats from potentially capturing Senate and gubernatorial seats for the first time in more than 30 years.
Federal Election Commission filings also showed that Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, had contributed more than $150 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a committee supporting Republican Senate candidates. The fund sent the same amount Musk donated to a Texas political action committee that supported Paxton through advertising.
The competing campaigns place cryptocurrency policy within a wider struggle over congressional control. Candidates who support digital-asset legislation could help shape rules covering the market structure for cryptocurrencies and related financial products, while the party controlling Congress would have greater influence over which bills reach votes.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 23:08-23:09 on Oct. 22, 2026, showed mixed performance among the listed digital assets:
- Ethena (ENA) was trading at $0.1977095243, down 7.35% over 24 hours and 3.02% over seven days.
- Raydium (RAY) stood at $1.8243204314, down 6.98% in 24 hours and 0.27% over seven days.
- ONEchain (ONE) was priced at $0.1013518567, falling 1.86% over 24 hours and 4.88% over seven days.
- WINkLink (WIN) traded at $0.0000602788, up 1.96% over 24 hours and 8.56% over seven days.
These market figures are separate from the political spending disclosures and reflect prices and percentage changes recorded by Moneyiar at the stated times.
