The crypto industry has already poured $189 million into the 2026 US midterm elections, blowing past the roughly $170 million it spent across the entire 2024 cycle. And the midterms are still months away.

A report from Public Citizen, released June 30, puts the scale of crypto’s political ambitions in stark terms. The sector now represents 37% of the $517 million in total reported corporate political contributions tracked so far this cycle. That makes crypto the single largest corporate contributor category in American politics right now.

Who’s writing the biggest checks

Four firms account for the lion’s share of the spending. Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture capital giant that has become crypto’s most aggressive political patron, leads the pack at $51.65 million.

Ripple Labs is close behind at $49.6 million, a figure that reflects the company’s longstanding strategy of courting Washington after years of regulatory warfare with the SEC.

Foris DAX, a Crypto.com affiliate, has contributed $38.6 million. Coinbase rounds out the top four at $35.2 million, continuing the exchange’s transformation from a company that once avoided politics into one that now treats lobbying as a core business function.

Fairshake: the industry’s weapon of choice

The primary vehicle for all this cash is Fairshake, the crypto-focused super PAC that has received $82.6 million from industry players this cycle alone. As of January 2026, Fairshake was sitting on a $193 million war chest.

Fairshake has already been active in 2026 primaries, deploying over $12 million to support an Alabama Senate candidate. The super PAC’s strategy is straightforward: back candidates who favor crypto-friendly regulation regardless of party, and make life uncomfortable for those who don’t.

According to Public Citizen’s analysis, other industries including AI and sports betting are now imitating crypto’s playbook of funneling corporate money into sector-specific super PACs designed to advance favorable federal regulations.