Crypto lobby has already spent $271m to sway the 2026 elections. It’s just getting started

A weird thing happened in Illinois the other day.

The crypto industry took an unexpected swipe at a seemingly innocuous Senate race playing out in the state.

Far from being a firebrand crypto critic like some of her more outspoken Democratic colleagues, Juliana Stratton, the lieutenant governor of Illinois and a candidate in the state’s Democratic Senate primary, has said very little about digital assets.

Until now.

“$7 million,” she said in the 36-second clip on March 3. “That’s how much a MAGA-backed crypto PAC just dumped into attack ads against me because they know that I can’t be bought.”

The incident was odd.

Sure, she had been endorsed by the staunchly anti-crypto Democrat Elizabeth Warren, but Stratton herself hadn’t voiced any clear opinion on crypto one way or another.

“She has not been particularly outspoken about crypto, and even Stand With Crypto had not identified her as having a stance on the topic,” Molly White, a crypto researcher who tracks donations from the industry, told DL News.

That changed after Stratton’s video.

Because of the video — which was a response to the attack ads against her — Stand With Crypto, the pro-crypto advocacy group backed by Coinbase, now ranks Stratton as “strongly against crypto.”

Meanwhile, Stand With Crypto says Stratton’s main rival for the seat, Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democratic congressman, “strongly supports crypto.”

Unlike Stratton, he’s played a much larger role in earning that title.

He backed landmark stablecoin legislation in the Genius Act and has supported advancing the Clarity Act.

The industry has publicly backed his campaign by $25,300, according to data compiled by White.

It isn’t much.

But the Illinois incident offers a unique glimpse into how crypto lobbying groups are preparing for one of the most consequential elections in US history.

Neither Stratton nor Krishnamoorthi’s campaigns replied to DL News’ requests for comment.

High stakes

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, and 35 seats in the Senate are being contested in the November elections.

If Democrats win the House but the Republicans maintain control of the Senate, then all legislative work will grind to a halt.

‘The 2024 elections made clear that crypto is a real constituency, made up of tens of millions of Americans who own digital assets, and that they vote.‘

Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, an industry advocacy group

That means, unless the crypto industry and the banking lobby are able to break the gridlock over the Clarity Act before November, then there’s little chance that the critical bill will see the light of day before the presidential election in 2028.

The midterms are also personal for President Donald Trump.

Republicans losing the House would open the door for him to be impeached for a third time.

His ouster, however unlikely, would also curtail what’s been a relatively productive period for the industry despite lagging prices.

Since taking office, Trump has been a staunch supporter of the crypto industry.

He has paved the way for landmark legislation, appointed industry supporters to key government positions, and issued a barrage of executive orders to promote the industry since taking office.

But his and his family’s ties to the industry have also made him a target of attacks from Democrats like Warren.

For instance, Trump and his sons are co-founders of a crypto project called World Liberty Financial. In May, its stablecoin, USD1, was used by an Abu Dhabi investment firm to invest $2 billion in the crypto exchange Binance.

Trump has also launched official memecoins for himself and First Lady Melania Trump.

Both those tokens now trade 94% and 99%, respectively, below their all-time highs.

In May, Trump hosted a gala dinner for the top 220 holders of his memecoin.

Of the 25 VIP guests who attended the event, 19 were foreign nationals, a House Judiciary Committee Democrats report said in November. They included a member of an advisory body that seeks to broaden the Chinese Communist Party’s influence.

Business dealings like that have raised concerns about foreign influence on policies and sparked accusations that Trump is using the power of the Oval Office to enrich himself, his family and his friends

The White House has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Yet these attacks are likely to keep coming.

“As the midterm elections approach, various political actors are naturally highlighting distinctions in policy and personal financial involvement to mobilise their respective bases,” G Clay Miller, partner at digital asset consultancy Penrose Partners and previous Brooklyn County Democratic Committee member, told DL News.

Crypto’s $271 million donations

Lobbying groups like the super-political action committee FairShake have already ploughed over $271 million into swaying the outcome of votes across the US, predominantly through advertising, according to White’s data.

The group counts crypto companies like Coinbase, Ripple, and Uniswap Labs, as well as venture capital titan Andreessen Horowitz, among its top donors.

Other prominent industry advocacy groups injecting funding into 2026 races include the Fellowship PAC and the Protect Progress super PAC, according to White’s data.

Of the $271 million injected into races this year, just under 40% has gone to Republicans, 3% to Democrats, and the rest to non-partisan individuals so far.

Miller says he expects the crypto lobby to push more money into Democrats’ campaigns to “broaden the industry’s bipartisan base.”

Not every lobbying group will participate in that effort.

Over the past few years, a wave of pro-MAGA advocacy groups has also emerged.

That includes the Digital Freedom Fund, backed by the Winklevoss twins and Kraken, and First Principles Digital.

“The 2024 elections made clear that crypto is a real constituency, made up of tens of millions of Americans who own digital assets, and that they vote,” Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, an industry advocacy group, told DL News. “That will not change in 2026.”

With 235 days until the midterms in November, these groups are on track to outspend their campaigns in the run-up to the 2024 election, says White.

As for what that spending will consist of, White reckons more attacks like those seen in the Illinois senate race will follow.

“Spend heavily in the primaries as a show of force, conveying to candidates that if they don’t embrace the crypto agenda — or at least keep quiet about it — they too could face millions of dollars in opposition spending.”

Eric Johansson is DL News’ managing editor. Got a tip? Email him at eric@dlnews.com.