Fairshake has spent $28 million in 2026 primaries as a new poll shows most Americans distrust crypto and AI, raising questions about the political value of industry-backed super PAC money.
Summary
- Fairshake and pro-AI PAC Leading the Future have together spent over $100 million in 2026 midterm races, according to federal filings and published reporting.
- A Public First poll for Politico in April found 45% of Americans say investing in crypto is too risky, and 44% say AI is developing too fast.
- Only 3% of survey respondents recognise Fairshake by name, but analysts warn backlash could be swift once voters connect the spending to the industries behind it.
Fairshake, the pro-crypto super PAC backed by Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Ripple, has spent $28 million across competitive 2026 primaries. Combined with pro-AI group Leading the Future, which launched in August 2025 and has raised more than $75 million, the two industry-aligned groups have together deployed over $100 million in the current midterm cycle.
The spending arrives against a difficult backdrop. A Public First poll conducted for Politico in April, surveying 2,035 US adults, found 45% of Americans say investing in cryptocurrency is not worth the risk, 44% say AI is developing too fast, and nearly two-thirds want Congress to impose strict regulations or broad AI oversight.
“I do think if they see somebody is backed by crypto, that’s always going to be a problem,” former Ohio Representative Jim Renacci was quoted as saying.
Despite those distrust numbers, public awareness of both groups remains remarkably low. Only 3% of respondents recognised Fairshake, and just 9% had heard of Leading the Future.
Political observers told Politico that backlash could be swift once voters make the connection between the spending and the industries behind it.
The stakes for crypto legislation are direct. As crypto.news reported, if Democrats take either chamber in November, the CLARITY Act’s passage odds are described as close to zero, with Senator Elizabeth Warren likely to take over the Senate Banking Committee chair.
Fairshake’s current $193 million war chest is explicitly aimed at preventing that scenario. In 2024, a Fairshake-affiliated PAC spent over $40 million helping unseat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a longtime crypto critic who is now running again.
