(Reuters) - The cryptocurrency industry, including heavyweights like Coinbase and Ripple, spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto U.S. congressional candidates, hoping to boost those who would pass crypto-friendly bills to promote digital assets.
The effort succeeded on Tuesday, with many of the industry's chosen candidates winning their races, potentially ushering in a Congress poised to champion crypto like never before.
Much of the sector's spending in 2024 came from supercharged political action committees, which can spend unlimited amounts of money. Fairshake, one of the most prominent PACs dedicated to supporting candidates with favorable views of crypto, spent more than $40 million during this election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.
The spending data comes via both OpenSecrets and the Federal Election Commission.
Here are the races where crypto has spent the most money, and whether the industry was ultimately successful in boosting their preferred candidate:
1. Ohio Senate: (R) Bernie Moreno vs. (D) Sherrod Brown (incumbent)
The cryptocurrency industry spent by far the most amount of money attempting to unseat current Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown in this year's elections, doling out $40.2 million on behalf of Brown's opponent, Republican Bernie Moreno.
Moreno defeated Brown on Tuesday, Edison Research projected, in one of the most expensive Senate races in history, ousting one of crypto's biggest foes in Congress.
Brown has been skeptical of cryptocurrencies, expressing particular concern about their use in financing groups deemed by the U.S. to be state sponsors of terrorism. Meanwhile, Moreno started a blockchain-based company and has said he will "lead the fight to defend crypto" in the Senate.
Moreno enjoyed contributions from Defend American Jobs - an affiliate of Fairshake - as well as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
2. Michigan Senate: (R) Mike Rogers vs. (D) Elissa Slotkin
Crypto spent $10 million supporting current U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan in her race for a vacated Senate seat, with contributions coming from Fairshake affiliate Protect Progress as well as Chris Larsen, the executive chairman of Ripple. Slotkin narrowly won her race, according to Edison Research.
In Congress, Slotkin voted in favor of repealing a crypto-related accounting bulletin from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as a bill promulgated by Republican House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry that would seek to develop a regulatory framework for crypto.