Three U.S. states from California, New Jersey, and South Dakota secured victories in the election on June 2 to the November general election after benefiting from the $3.5 million in advertising funded by cryptocurrency industry support political action committees.
In California, several Democratics candidates secured victories, including Jacqui Irwin, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Dave Min, Mike McGuire, Hilda Solis, George Whitesides, Lou Correa, and Lateefah Simon, who won their primary races for House seats.
In New Jersey, Democratic Rob Menendez won the primary for the 8th Congressional District. Meanwhile, in South Dakota, Republican Mike Rounds also won in Senate primary.
The electoral triumph subsequently estimates $3.5 million in combined media spending through the Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs PACs in support of the candidates. Both associations are accredited with Fairshake, a political action committee primarily funded by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Ripple Labs, which reported holding of about $193 million in remaining funds as of January.
According to Geoff Vetter, Fairshake spokesperson, noted that the United States requires lawmakers who are ready to develop responsible regulatory systems for the digital asset sector while sustaining the country’s global competitiveness.
The allocation followed similar advertising campaign in Texas second-run primaries from the past week, where Democrat Christian Menefee won over incumbent Representative AI Green and the four other Republican candidates won in House district races. Most of the candidates have outlined support for the digital asset industry, either by supporting cryptocurrency under legislation, such as the GENIUS Act, or by public advertisement of the institutions.
Maryland is evolving as the next target for Fairshake and its accredited associations. Based on Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Protect Progress spent over $3.1 million on June 3, supporting Democratic candidate Adrian Boafo in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, where the primary election is scheduled for June 23.
On June 3, industry leader reported the formation of Defend Developers, a hybrid PAC that will back incumbent members of Congress who support security for software and crypto developers. The association mentioned its board, which is composed of CEOs, chief legal officers, and policy leaders from significant crypto institutions such as DeFi Education Fund, Orca Creative, the Solana Policy Institute, and Uniswap Labs.
In support, Founder Gavin Zavatone, creator of building decentralized technologies, has long been subject to regulatory ambiguity and enforcement actions rather than clear rules and guidance.
The filing on the Federal Election Commission (FED) portal represents no recorded fundraising or spending activity. Based on the PAC’s statement of organization filed on May 15, Nick Stoltzfus, co-CEO-of-on-chain student loan digital asset system Stratofied, is listed as treasurer and custodian of records.
The PAC has not stated where or how it plans to manage the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, other than noting it will target “key races over the country.”
