Brown wins in Ohio despite $60 million in crypto industry spending — Channel NewsAsia
Democrat Sherrod Brown won the U.S. Senate election in Ohio despite more than $60 million spent by cryptocurrency political committees to defeat him. This marked the most significant setback for the crypto industry in the current election, Channel NewsAsia reports.
Spending did not change the outcome
Overall, the crypto industry spent around $200 million on the election. Although it won most of the races in which it backed candidates, several costly defeats raised questions among lobbyists about the choice of political allies.
The Ohio race was among the most expensive in Senate history. It was seen as a test of the crypto sector's political influence after the Senate in September failed to advance legislation known as the Clarity Act because of Democratic opposition. According to the source, the crypto industry has grown closer to President Donald Trump.
TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg said the election results worsen the political environment for the crypto industry. Some progressive Democratic candidates also criticized their opponents over ties to the crypto sector.
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Fairshake's results
The largest industry super PAC, Fairshake, and related entities spent at least $13.5 million on defeating independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska. Osborn lost to Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, who voted for the Clarity Act.
Fairshake, whose leading donors include Coinbase, Ripple and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, backed 32 House candidates: 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats. At the time of publication, candidates supported by Fairshake had won 29 of 34 races, while the results of several others had not yet been announced.
Over the past two election cycles, the crypto industry spent about half a billion dollars to build a bipartisan coalition of allies in Congress. After Congress came under Democratic control, the industry may face oversight and possible investigations, including into its ties to Trump.
