Crypto firms have spent $189M so far on 2026 US election, report says

downrightmike

Crypto firms have supplied more than one-third of all corporate money so far in this year's elections Fairshake has received $82 million in contributions this cycle Crypto, AI, big tech and online betting firms have spent $294 million combined on 2026 elections June 30 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency companies have spent $189 million so far to influence the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, outpacing their spending for the previous election cycle, according to a new report, opens new tab from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization. More than one-third of all corporate money contributed to this year's November elections, and primary elections leading up to them, has come from the crypto industry, making it the top corporate political spender, the group said. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. Crypto was also the top corporate donor in the 2024 election cycle, when it contributed $170 million and many of the congressional candidates it boosted won their races. Companies in the artificial intelligence, big tech and online betting sectors have also contributed heavily. Combined with crypto, they have spent $294 million on the 2026 elections so far. In November, the full House of Representatives will be up for reelection, along with roughly a third of the Senate. "The big takeaway is that corporate money is playing a bigger role than ever in our elections, and it's only expanding," said Rick Claypool, a research director at Public Citizen and the author of the report.

khurs

A UK party rising up the charts is caught up in a scandal - crypto guy gave the party leader (personally) £5m which he failed to declare and he started the party a few days later indicating he was paid to start the party. It came out when Crypto guy gave an interview and mentioned it not realising the consequences. The party leader first claimed it was for security. Then it was determined he had bought property with it. https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-nigel-fara...

bhouston

The fact that political spending is considered free speech in the US gives the rich and already powerful massive sway in the political system, it is basically tiled hard towards them. And then combined with how PACs hide their funding behind names like "Everyday Americans Making the World Better" when really it just wants to lessen online gambling laws for a billion dollar company, is just brutal. US politics is a dystopian future realized.

khurs

Andreessen Horowitz - $51.65m... are they the Goldman Sachs (Vampire Squid) of the Tech world? The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-grea...

BiraIgnacio

Is this a little or a lot? any idea how that compares to other industries and donors?

paulpauper

As far as the US is concerned, given how badly bitcoin has done since Trump was inaugurated, the worst performing asset class by far, I would say the ROI has been pretty bad. Industries and sectors that donated nothing still got bailouts and other initiatives, such as AI, quantum, metals, and semiconductors. Noting for crypto donors. No bailouts, or even mentions on twitter. Politicians can take money but they don't have to honor their end of the deal to give anything in return.

ChrisArchitect

Related: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48687483

ChrisArchitect

Related: Tech Influence Watch site: https://influence.citationneeded.news/ ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48632474 ) Blog post: https://www.citationneeded.news/tech-influence-watch/

shemnon42

Rookie numbers.

baggachipz

"Very legal and very cool"

Cider9986

It can't be worse than the banks. It's a shame the crypto industry is so scummy it makes people avoid real improvements on the monetary system made by Monero.

WinstonSmith84

Looks a little bit sensational and .. very much misleading 1- The largest donor, a16z is certainly invested in Crypto, but that's a venture capital firm, not crypto firm. 2- Fairshake PAC is basically a Crypto PAC, so it's obvious that Crypto firms are funding that PAC, right. I quote Wikipedia: > Fairshake is a Super PAC funded by the cryptocurrency industry that supported pro-cryptocurrency candidates in the 2024 United States elections.[2][3][4][5] Major contributors include Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz.[6] Fairshake spent nearly twice as much on Republican candidates than on Democratic candidates.[7] That PAC doesn't look like they are ideologically oriented, they just care about whether a candidate is pro crypto or not, whether it's dems or reps. 3- Leading the Future is not even a Crypto PAC at all, it's an AI PAC

khriss

And as if to sprinkle salt on the wounds, the Supreme court today allowed unlimited spending by political parties 'in coordination with allied interests(read the money class)' https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48734220 Moneyed interests have always jockeyed for power, but earlier they were held somewhat in check by Congress which had to listen somewhat to voters. With Citizens united in 2010 and corporate media driving polarization to new heights, big money has been able to drown out ordinary voters at at unprecedented scale. No wonder, the 1% have never had it so good, when they can literally buy the govt they want. Looks like we're headed back to the gilded age and robber barons.

nullorempty

I spent nothing on US election this year and nothing in all previous years. Partly, because I am not from US, but largely because I have no interests to lobby! Are elections that run on donations can be considered truly democratic?

kiproping

So are you telling me that a certain country that banned Crypto entirely might have been right?

hadlock

There was a flight to quality (their first real test, in my opinion) back in February 2026 and... nobody bought Crypto. Crypto never recovered after that. It's a good time to be a lobbyist, but I don't think you can effectively legislate against the value of gold for any amount of money.

petilon

This just came out: Trump reports more than $1.4 billion in income from crypto ventures [1]. He received more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he and his sons co-founded. Trump reported another $635 million from the sale of his $TRUMP meme coins. $TRUMP meme coin shot up to $75 two days after launch. It has lost most of its value [2]. Guess who got rich off the people who invested in $TRUMP coin? A UAE-linked investment firm acquired a 49% stake in Trump's World Liberty Financial for $500 million just before Trump's January 2025 inauguration, directing significant upfront payments to Trump family entities. [1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-reports-more-than-14-... [2] https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/official-trump/

quantum_state

To make America great again, we need to rid private money from politics and election. A public pool should be established with well defined rules and transparency to fund election and campaign. It is a basic investment in healthy democracy.