Crypto’s midterm spending spree stumbles as Democrats rack up big wins

FILE PHOTO: Representation of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - ⁠The crypto industry's roughly $200 million spending spree this election stumbled Tuesday, as some of its most expensive and high-profile ⁠targets, including the Senate race in Ohio, did not go its way.

While the industry won most of the races ‌it targeted, those losses raised questions among lobbyists about whether it had backed the right candidates.

The greatest blow for the industry came in Ohio, where Democrat and crypto skeptic Sherrod Brown decisively won his race to return to the Senate, despite crypto political action committees spending more than $60 million to defeat him.

The race was ​one of the most expensive in the Senate's history. Strategists viewed it as ⁠a major test ofcrypto's political clout after the Senate ⁠in September voted against advancing major crypto legislation known as the Clarity Act due to opposition from Democrats, in a blow ⁠for ‌an industry that has grown close to President Donald Trump.

Some progressive Democratic primary candidates also successfully attacked opponents over their crypto ties.

"We see this as souring the political environment for crypto," said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with TD Cowen, in a ⁠note on Tuesday.

The leading industry super PAC, Fairshake, notched one high-profile victory, as it ​and its affiliates spent at least $13.5 ‌million to defeat Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn, a former labor union leader. Osborn lost to Republican Senator Pete ⁠Ricketts, who voted for ​the Clarity Act.

“As the biggest spender in the Nebraska Senate race, we’re proud to have helped Sen. Ricketts weather the waves of a hard-fought cycle," said Geoff Vetter, a spokesperson for Fairshake.

Fairshake, whose chief backers include Coinbase, Ripple and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, threw its financial heft behind 32 ⁠House candidates — 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats — whom it considered supporters of ​the industry's priorities.

So far, it has won 29 of the 34 races it spent on, with several races not yet called. Of the six House candidates on whomFairshake spent $1 million or more, so far it has won three.

"Newly elected and current members will have a choice: ⁠protect consumers and American jobs or fight progress," Fairshake's Vetter said.

The crypto industry has spent roughly half a billion dollars over the past two election cycles to build a bipartisan coalition of congressional allies to advance its interests.

In 2024, it helped elect dozens of crypto-friendly lawmakers who later came together to pass a law to help promote adoption of dollar-backed tokens known asstablecoins.

The Clarity Act's defeatwas a major ​setback, and with Democrats taking Congress, the industry now faces oversight and potential investigations, particularly ⁠its ties to Trump.

Cryptocurrencies posted overnight losses on the results, but recovered on Wednesday. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, was last up 3.1% ​above $80,000.

Crypto executives frequently say the long-term trend is still favorable.

"Where crypto is today compared ‌to we were two years ago is night and day," said ​Stu Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, speaking before the results. However, on thepossibility of Democratic probes into Trump's crypto business dealings, he said: "I think the writing is on the wall.”

(Additional reporting by Dawn Kopecki; editing by David Gaffen)

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资料图片：这张摄于2025年9月10日的插图展示了加密货币的示意图。路透社/Dado Ruvic/插图/资料图片

华盛顿，11 月 4 日（路透社）——周二，加密货币行业在本次选举中约 2 亿美元的支出狂潮遭遇挫折，因为其一些最昂贵、最受瞩目的目标，包括俄亥俄州的参议院竞选，都没有如愿以偿。

虽然该行业在大多数目标竞选中都取得了胜利，但这些失败也引发了游说者们的质疑，即该行业是否支持了正确的候选人。

对加密货币行业来说，最大的打击来自俄亥俄州。民主党人、加密货币怀疑论者谢罗德·布朗(Sherrod Brown)在参议院选举中以压倒性优势获胜，尽管加密货币政治行动委员会花费了超过 6000 万美元试图击败他。

这场竞选是参议院历史上最昂贵的竞选之一。战略家们认为，在参议院9月份投票否决了名为《清晰法案》（Clarity Act）的重要加密货币立法后，这场竞选是对加密货币政治影响力的一次重大考验。该法案是由于民主党人的反对而通过的。这对与唐纳德·特朗普总统关系密切的加密货币行业来说是一个打击。

一些进步派民主党初选候选人也成功地攻击了对手与加密货币的联系。

TD Cowen 分析师 Jaret Seiberg 周二在一份报告中表示：“我们认为这正在恶化加密货币的政治环境。”

行业领先的超级政治行动委员会“公平选举”（Fairshake）取得了一项引人注目的胜利，该委员会及其附属机构花费至少1350万美元，击败了内布拉斯加州独立参议员候选人丹·奥斯本（Dan Osborn），奥斯本曾是工会领袖。奥斯本败给了共和党参议员皮特·里基茨（Pete Ricketts），后者投票支持了《清晰法案》（Clarity Act）。

“作为内布拉斯加州参议院竞选中最大的捐款方，我们很自豪能够帮助里克茨参议员度过这场艰苦卓绝的选举周期，”费尔沙克的发言人杰夫·维特说。

Fairshake 的主要支持者包括 Coinbase、Ripple 和风险投资公司 Andreessen Horowitz，该公司将其雄厚的财力投入到 32 位众议院候选人（19 位共和党人和 13 位民主党人）的竞选中，认为这些候选人支持该行业的优先事项。

截至目前，该党在其投入资金的34场选举中赢得了29场，还有几场选举结果尚未公布。在费尔沙克竞选团队投入100万美元或以上的六位众议院候选人中，目前已赢得三位。

“新当选的和现任的议员将面临一个选择：要么保护消费者和美国就业，要么阻碍进步，”公平权益组织（Fairshake）的维特（Vetter）说。

在过去的两个选举周期中，加密货币行业花费了大约 5 亿美元，建立了一个由国会两党盟友组成的联盟，以推进其利益。

2024 年，它帮助选举了数十名对加密货币友好的立法者，他们后来联合起来通过了一项法律，以帮助推广以美元为支撑的稳定币。

《透明度法案》的失败是一次重大挫折，随​​着民主党控制国会，该行业现在面临监管和潜在的调查，特别是其与特朗普的关系。

受财报影响，加密货币隔夜下跌，但周三反弹。全球最大的加密货币比特币最新上涨3.1%，高于8万美元。

加密货币领域的高管经常表示，长期趋势依然有利。

Ripple首席法务官Stu Alderoty在选举结果公布前表示：“如今的加密货币与两年前相比，简直是天壤之别。” 然而，对于民主党是否会调查特朗普的加密货币商业交易，他却说：“我认为结果已经很明显了。”

（Dawn Kopecki补充报道；David Gaffen编辑）

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