The Crypto Industry Is Spending Big On The Midterms. Now A Coinbase-Backed Group Is Picking Its Candidates.

A Coinbase-backed crypto advocacy group has endorsed 32 House incumbents for the November midterms, adding an organized voter campaign to the nearly $200 million the industry has already poured into this year's elections.

Stand With Crypto said all 32 lawmakers backed the Clarity Act when it passed the House last year. The legislation, which would set federal rules for digital assets and divide oversight between regulators, remains stalled in the Senate despite becoming the industry's biggest policy priority.

The endorsements include Republicans Tom Emmer, Bill Huizenga, Juan Ciscomani and Brian Fitzpatrick, as well as Democrats Ritchie Torres and Josh Gottheimer. Ciscomani in Arizona and Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania are among those running in competitive districts, while Stand With Crypto plans to announce its Senate endorsements closer to election day.

Coinbase launched Stand With Crypto in 2023 to organize crypto owners around legislation and elections rather than rely mainly on direct campaign spending. The group says it now has more than 3 million registered U.S. advocates and has been pressing senators to advance the Clarity Act, including through a coalition letter published by Stand With Crypto in June.

Executive Director Mason Lynaugh told Reuters that the group's 2024 campaign was focused on proving crypto voters existed as a political constituency, while the 2026 effort is aimed at showing they can influence close races. Stand With Crypto made an initial six House endorsements in March before adding the latest group of 32 incumbents.

The endorsements are separate from the large sums being spent by crypto-focused political action committees. The industry has committed close to $200 million to the 2026 midterms, much of it through Fairshake and affiliated groups supporting candidates from both parties, Reuters reported earlier this month. Fairshake alone had raised more than $136 million for the election cycle.

Crypto companies spent about $170 million supporting congressional candidates during the 2024 elections, according to Reuters, and many of those candidates won. Congress later passed the Genius Act, which created federal rules for dollar-backed stablecoins, giving the industry one of its biggest legislative victories.

The Clarity Act has proved harder to finish. President Donald Trump urged Congress last week to pass a "fair version" of the bill during a White House event attended by executives from Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken and other crypto companies, Reuters reported. Some senators have opposed moving forward without provisions addressing conflicts involving elected officials and crypto holdings.

Crypto, artificial intelligence and online betting companies have collectively become major political spenders this cycle. A Reuters analysis found those industries had directed more than $294 million through super PACs, affiliated PACs and other political groups, while total corporate political spending had already surpassed the level recorded during the entire 2024 cycle.

Stand With Crypto's latest endorsements focus on incumbents rather than new challengers, with the group seeking to return House members who already voted for the industry's preferred market-structure bill. Its Senate endorsements are expected later in the campaign.