Crypto industry pours about $176 million into the midterms, with Ohio's Senate race alone drawing more than $68 million, a week before Election Day

The crypto industry has spent about $176 million backing allies in more than 100 congressional races ahead of the November 3 midterms, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing campaign finance records and advertising data. Fairshake and its affiliated political action committees account for about $150.8 million of that through October 20, and other crypto-backed groups for about $25 million. Fairshake spent $196 million in the 2024 cycle.

The money is concentrated in a few contests. Reuters and AdImpact put spending in the Ohio Senate race, where former Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown, who has criticized industry-backed proposals, faces Jon Husted, at more than $68 million. Fairshake also spent more than $10 million against Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton in her Senate primary; she won it.

The spending aims at a bill that has not passed. The CLARITY Act, which would put crypto market oversight under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, stalled in the Senate in this congressional session. Without it, analysts at JPMorgan said, per Reuters, regulations adopted during Trump's term could be reversed by a future administration. Colin McLaren of the Solana Policy Institute called the spending "an investment in the future."

What to watch: the November 3 results. Reuters said the CLARITY Act faces an uphill climb next year if Democrats win one or more chambers of Congress.