Crypto PAC spends $11M to oppose Sherrod Brown in Ohio
Fairshake pledged an initial $30 million on media opposing the Democratic candidate in Ohio’s Senate race in what some see as a repeat of spending by the crypto industry in 2024.
A political action committee (PAC) aligned with and largely funded by the cryptocurrency industry reported spending more than $11 million on ads supporting Republican Jon Husted and opposing Democrat Sherrod Brown in a race for one of Ohio’s seats in the US Senate.
In a Thursday filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Defend American Jobs PAC, affiliated with the Coinbase- and Ripple Labs-backed group Fairshake, reported spending $11.4 million on media supporting Husted and opposing Brown’s potential return to the Senate. The ad buys appeared to be part of Fairshake’s pledge to initially spend $30 million in the Ohio race in an attempt to block Brown, who was previously chair of the Senate Banking Committee and one of the more outspoken voices in Congress against pro-crypto legislation and policies.
Sept. 24 filing from Defend American Jobs PAC. Source: FED
Cointelegraph reached out to Husted’s and Brown’s campaigns for comment but did not receive an immediate response. In an August 2025 inquiry following the launch of his Senate race, Brown told Cointelegraph:
“Cryptocurrency is a part of America’s economy, and becoming more commonplace in Ohio and throughout the country. Just like what guides all my work, my goal is to make sure that as more people use cryptocurrency, it expands opportunity and lifts up Ohioans and they are not put at risk.”
In 2024, the Ohio Senate race between Brown, then an incumbent, and Republican Bernie Moreno resulted in more than $300 million in spending from outside groups like Fairshake. FEC records showed that the crypto-aligned PAC and its affiliates alone spent about $41 million to oppose Brown and support Moreno. The Republican won the election with 50.2% of the vote to Brown’s 46.4%.