elections

According to Cointelegraph, crypto-related political action committees (PACs) and industry executives have invested over $500 million in the 2026 U.S. elections.Follow the Crypto data shows that crypto industry companies and related individuals have contributed over $320 million, and crypto-related PACs still hold over $245 million in cash; among them, Republican-related candidates/committees received about $127 million in support, significantly higher than the approximately $11.5 million for Democrats.

According to Cointelegraph, NYDIG research director Greg Cipolaro stated that if the U.S. Senate's cryptocurrency market structure bill does not pass before August, it may completely fail after the midterm elections. Cipolaro pointed out that the Senate Banking Committee passed the bill along party lines last week, but it needs 60 votes to pass in the Senate. Congress will be in recess from late July to early September, and then enter the pre-midterm election period, making it unlikely that Senate leadership will schedule a controversial 60-vote vote.If this window is missed, the most likely path is a post-election lame-duck session. If the Democrats control the Senate after the midterm elections, the current Republican-supported bill is unlikely to advance in the new Congress in January. Cipolaro stated that lawmakers face a choice: either accept an imperfect bipartisan framework or confront a drastically different legislative environment after the midterm elections. The White House's cryptocurrency advisors previously aimed to pass the bill by July 4, but Cipolaro believes a more realistic window is from June to early August.

According to Axios, American Republicans are increasingly dissatisfied with the flow of political donations in the cryptocurrency industry, demanding that the pro-crypto super PAC Fairshake, which holds about $165 million in funds, clarify its stance and focus on supporting Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.Republicans pointed out that, against the backdrop of significant progress in promoting pro-crypto legislation such as the CLARITY Act, Fairshake has yet to announce specific election investment plans, which is disappointing. The points of contention include:Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown: Fairshake spent over $40 million in 2024 to defeat incumbent Senator Brown, but Brown's attitude towards the cryptocurrency industry has noticeably softened in recent years.New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas: His Stand With Crypto rating rose from "F" to "A" within 8 months, and Republicans initially expected Fairshake to focus on his campaign.In response, Fairshake supporters stated that it is still too early to speak out and emphasized that the PAC is bipartisan in nature, aiming to "reward supporters and punish critics," rather than unconditionally supporting a particular party. Some pro-crypto Republicans (such as the Winklevoss brothers) have established separate independent groups specifically to support Republican candidates.

According to The New York Times, the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and its co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have disclosed a total of over $115 million in federal donations during this midterm election cycle, surpassing George Soros ($102.9 million), Elon Musk ($85 million), and Jeff Yass ($81.8 million), making them the largest known political donor in this election cycle.Compared to the approximately $63 million in donations for the 2024 election cycle, this round of donations has seen significant growth. Notably, on November 6, 2024 (the day after the election), a16z injected over $23 million into a major super PAC in the cryptocurrency industry, indicating that its political strategy has a clear long-term intention.

According to CoinDesk, Jesse Spiro, head of government affairs at Tether, warned at the Consensus conference that the 2026 U.S. midterm elections could have a significant impact on the crypto industry and will be a key test of whether Washington's recent friendly attitude towards digital assets can endure.He pointed out that the industry has made progress over the past year, including the passage of the GENIUS Act and advancements in market structure legislation, but these achievements could be overturned by the elections. Spiro emphasized that the crypto industry should not be partisan, and the best scenario is to gain bipartisan support. Colin McLaren, head of government relations at the Solana Policy Research Institute, stated that the industry's political efforts are focused on "persistence," ensuring that Congress continues to advance priorities such as tax reform and developer protections.Mason Lynaugh, executive director of Stand With Crypto, said that the organization's nearly 3 million members view the elections as a "moment of accountability," with high enthusiasm among crypto voters that could sway results in closely contested elections.

A survey commissioned by CoinDesk of 1,000 registered voters in the United States shows that only 1% of respondents listed cryptocurrency as the most important issue in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, ranking almost last among all concerns. In contrast, cost of living (36%), jobs and the economy (13%), and Social Security and Medicare (11%) emerged as the most pressing issues for voters.The survey also revealed that American voters generally hold a negative view of cryptocurrency, with only 27% of respondents indicating they have invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrency, while another 27% said they might participate in the future. About 47% of respondents believe the Republican Party is more friendly towards cryptocurrency, while only 14% think the Democratic Party is more supportive of the crypto industry; however, in terms of "which party they trust more to manage cryptocurrency affairs," the Democratic Party slightly leads with 27% over the Republican Party's 25%, while 40% expressed distrust in both parties.Although cryptocurrency is not a core election issue, about 40% of respondents still indicated they are more inclined to vote for candidates who align with their views on cryptocurrency, demonstrating that the issue of digital assets continues to gain influence in American politics.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart published an article revealing that the market ETF is expected to be officially launched next week. Roundhill's relevant application documents have been submitted, with an effective date set for May 5. The first predicted market ETFs will use the election results of the Democratic or Republican control of the House of Representatives or the Senate as the underlying asset.

Kim Hyun-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea's Digital Assets Special Task Force, stated that they plan to submit the basic law on digital assets related to stablecoins (Phase Two legislation) after the local elections and simultaneously advance the review of the bill in the subcommittee.He pointed out that there are still differences regarding issues such as the shareholding restrictions for major shareholders of exchanges, which need further discussion. At the same time, he believes that, in the context of the Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-sung's positive attitude towards stablecoins, relevant legislation is expected to progress. In addition, the task force is considering meeting with him after the elections to advance the design of the CBDC and the Korean won stablecoin system.

According to Bloomberg, political groups associated with the cryptocurrency industry have accumulated nearly $180 million in funding reserves ahead of this year's U.S. midterm elections, surpassing the funding levels of some major Republican super PACs.The report states that most of this funding has been carried over from last year, with the vast majority held by Fairshake. Fairshake's main backers include Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Andreessen Horowitz.

According to the Financial Times, an analysis of campaign finance records shows that the cryptocurrency and AI industries have raised approximately $250 million over the past year to support congressional candidates in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections in November.A16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz donated a total of $25 million in February to the pro-AI Super PAC "Leading The Future." The organization has raised about $75 million from billionaires, including the two mentioned above and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman; when including "dark money" non-profits that do not disclose their donors, that figure rises to $140 million. The largest Super PAC in the crypto industry, Fairshake, has raised over $134 million on its own.In January, Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street firm previously led by current U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and now managed by his son Brandon, which has a partnership with Tether, donated $10 million to the pro-crypto Super PAC Fellowship; the parent company of the major crypto platform, Anchor Labs, also added a $1 million donation to Fellowship PAC. Elon Musk donated $1.6 million to his America PAC in March, significantly reducing his involvement compared to 2024, when he invested over $250 million across various PACs.Anthropic has pledged $20 million to the non-profit Public First Action, which has redirected some of the funds to a Super PAC to influence the 2026 elections. The company holds a relatively unique position in the industry, explicitly calling for the establishment of strict federal AI safety regulations, which diverges from the majority of participants in the AI industry.

According to The Hill, the White House seems eager to push for a resolution to the dispute between the banking industry and the cryptocurrency sector, a dispute that has hindered Senate negotiations on the legislation since the beginning of this year. Key officials both inside and outside the U.S. government—from Treasury Secretary Scott Bansen to White House crypto advisor Patrick Witte, and former head of AI and crypto affairs David Sacks—have recently called for the passage of the bill.At the same time, the Council of Economic Advisers released a report that countered the relevant concerns of the banking industry. However, it is still unclear whether the White House's push is sufficient to overcome the issues plaguing the bill, which are not limited to the narrow industry disputes that have dominated discussions over the past three months. Christopher Neuber, a senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, stated in an interview, "From a timing perspective, their judgment is reasonable—if Congress has the opportunity to push the market structure bill through, now is that opportunity."

According to The Block, Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs jointly funded the newly established political action committee "Blockchain Leadership Fund," marking Anchorage Digital's first involvement in PAC financing.The fund plans to support candidates who promote digital asset and blockchain policies ahead of the midterm elections and actively engage in voter education. Currently, the U.S. Congress's cryptocurrency legislative process is stalled, with the Senate Banking Committee still at odds with the banking industry over stablecoin reward regulation issues. Meanwhile, the crypto advocacy organization Stand With Crypto has also launched a legislator digital asset position scoring system to continue building momentum for the industry ahead of the 2026 elections.

According to a report by Jinshi, the latest NBC poll shows that Trump's support among registered voters has decreased by 3 percentage points from 47% in March 2025 to 44%, with disapproval rising to 54%. The average of Decision Desk HQ polls also shows similar results: 43.1% approval and 54.4% disapproval.Investinglive analyst Adam Button stated that the key for the market lies in the situation of the midterm elections. Trump himself has pointed out this risk, noting that historical patterns show that the party in the White House typically faces setbacks in midterm elections. If the Republican Party loses seats in Congress, it will reshape the legislative landscape regarding tax policy, tariffs, and deregulation, while current stock valuations have to some extent already priced in expectations for these policies.The big question ahead is whether Trump will begin to face internal pressure to quickly end the war. Republicans have certainly acknowledged that they will lose the House of Representatives, and as the Middle Eastern war diminishes some of their voter base, the control of the Senate becomes increasingly uncertain.

Data shows that lobbying groups related to the cryptocurrency industry have invested approximately $271 million to influence the 2026 U.S. elections, mainly for political activities such as advertising. Among them, the super PAC FairShake is one of the main sources of funding, with donors including Coinbase, Ripple, Uniswap Labs, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.The data also indicates that about 40% of the related funds are directed towards Republican candidates, about 3% towards Democratic candidates, and the remainder supports independent candidates. Industry insiders say that as the 2026 U.S. midterm elections approach, lobbying activities in the cryptocurrency industry are expected to continue to increase.

According to Decrypt, the National Anti-Corruption Center of Moldova (CNA) has disclosed a plan to influence the country's parliamentary elections in 2025 using cryptocurrency, involving an amount of $107 million.CNA Director Alexandr Pinzari stated that the plan involved "complex trading operations" through non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, transferring virtual assets to intermediaries in Moldova, who would then convert them into cash and distribute them to local activists for bribing voters, promoting specific candidates, and mobilizing rally participants. The source of the funds can be traced back to two centralized cryptocurrency platforms in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.Blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs linked the activity to the "Russia-backed foreign influence operation InfoLider" and confirmed that the Kyrgyzstan cryptocurrency exchange TokenSpot is one of the sources of the transactions. TRM Labs had previously identified TokenSpot as a potential front company for the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, both of which are closely related to the "Kremlin-backed sanctions evasion ecosystem."

The Chair of the UK's National Security Council, Matt Western, has called for an urgent temporary ban on political donations in cryptocurrency to prevent foreign interference in UK elections. Matt Western stated that such donations need to be suspended until the risks associated with cryptocurrency donations (including thorough checks on the sources of funds) are addressed.The committee also called for a review of sentencing for electoral offenses, believing that deterrence needs to be strengthened. Western has written to the Cabinet Minister responsible for election finance, Steve Reed, requesting immediate action—previously, the new election bill did not include provisions to restrict cryptocurrency donations.Earlier this year, the Reform UK party became the first to express acceptance of digital currency donations, reportedly receiving its first registrable cryptocurrency donations and establishing a dedicated crypto portal. In his letter, Western expressed concern that, given the deteriorating global security environment, the intent of foreign interference in UK political finance may intensify before the next election.

According to The Hill, the cryptocurrency industry is ramping up its spending in preparation for the upcoming U.S. midterm elections after achieving several key victories and accumulating significant funds in 2024.The industry's main super PAC network, Fairshake, has over $193 million in cash on hand as of early 2026 and has announced several targets for this election cycle: including supporting Congressman Barry Moore (Republican-Alabama) in the Alabama Senate race, and pushing to oust Congressman Al Green (Democrat-Texas) in the House elections. After making substantial investments in the last U.S. elections and claiming victories in at least two high-profile campaigns, this has secured some early wins for the industry in Congress and significantly elevated the cryptocurrency sector's standing in Washington.The impact of the cryptocurrency industry in 2024 was most pronounced, as it invested tens of millions of dollars in multiple primaries and competitive elections. According to 2024 campaign finance filings, the Fairshake super PAC network, which includes three affiliated groups, spent nearly $180 million in the last cycle.

According to CoinDesk, Citi's analysis indicates that Bitcoin is approaching a key price support level ahead of the U.S. elections.The report states that after several weeks of decline, the price of Bitcoin has fallen below the bank's estimated average entry cost of approximately $81,600 for the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF and is nearing the critical level of about $70,000 prior to last year's election.The report points out that the main new source of demand supporting the market—ETF inflows—has significantly slowed, while the futures market continues to see long positions being liquidated. Analysts note that the cryptocurrency market exhibits volatility similar to that of precious metals but has failed to follow the recent safe-haven rally in gold, highlighting that its price is still primarily influenced by liquidity conditions and risk sentiment rather than safe-haven demand.The report believes that regulatory progress remains a key potential catalyst, but the advancement of the U.S. digital asset market structure bill has been slow and uneven, leading to diminished expectations. The report also mentions macro risks, including concerns about the Federal Reserve's balance sheet contraction, which historically puts pressure on crypto assets by reducing liquidity in the banking system.

According to a report by the Financial Times, cited by Jin Shi, U.S. President Trump and his allies have raised a record $429 million in political donations over the past year, with tech billionaires and businesses seeking policy changes opening their wallets to accumulate funds ahead of the midterm elections. Analysis shows that the single political action committee (PAC) Maga Inc, controlled by Trump's allies, currently holds $304 million in funds—this amount exceeds the reserves of any political action committee in previous midterm election years and is tens of millions of dollars more than the funds available to the Democratic Party's related camps.The largest disclosed single donation to Maga Inc came from the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, with venture capital giants A16Z founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donating $3 million to "Maga Inc" last year. OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman donated $12.5 million to the committee last December, with his wife Anna adding another $12.5 million.

According to Cointelegraph, Grow California, co-founded by Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Bitcoin supporter and venture capitalist Tim Draper, has disclosed that it has received approximately $40 million in donation commitments for an independent expenditure committee and related nonprofit entities to combat California's wealth tax and union power. Chris Larsen is expected to contribute up to $30 million of his own funds over multiple election cycles.Industry observers note that crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) are gearing up for the 2026 U.S. midterm elections to expand the industry's influence. Fairshake disclosed on Wednesday that its cash reserves have reached $193 million, funded by crypto institutions such as Ripple Labs, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coinbase.