Crypto PAC will spend $12M backing Republican in Ohio race that could flip Senate

A network of super PACs funded by the cryptocurrency industry is backing industry-friendly candidates in three battleground Senate races, including in Ohio, where it plans to support the GOP challenger to Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown.

Defend American Jobs — one of three affiliated super PACs funded by the industry — announced Tuesday it will spend at least $12 million backing Republican Bernie Moreno, whose race against Brown could determine control of the Senate. A win for Republicans in the Buckeye State would all but guarantee a GOP majority in the upper chamber.

A sister crypto PAC, Protect Progress, is set to launch a pair of $3 million ad campaigns backing the Democratic Senate candidacies of Reps. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

The Senate endorsements mark the first major battleground plays for the crypto super PAC group, which has amassed more than $160 million as part of a campaign to sway the 2024 elections in the industry’s favor.

As chair of the Banking Committee, Brown has been a longtime skeptic of the crypto industry who has warned of risks that digital assets present to consumers, though he has dialed back his criticism in recent months. Moreno, a former car dealer, is a crypto enthusiast who has spoken at industry conferences and once championed an initiative to turn Cleveland into a hub for startups that use blockchain, the digital ledger technology behind digital assets.

Gallego and Slotkin have both voted for industry-backed legislation in the House, which passed a bill supported by digital asset firms with broad bipartisan support in May.

A spokesperson for the super PACs, Josh Vlasto, said in a statement that the group’s mission is to “support candidates who embrace innovation, want to protect American jobs, and are committed to working across the aisle to get things done and oppose those who do not.”

“We are proud of the progress we have seen toward the creation of a sustainable bi-partisan coalition and a consensus that there is an urgent need to pass responsible crypto and blockchain-focused regulation that advances innovation, protects American jobs, and roots out bad actors,” he said.

The crypto super PAC group’s major backers include the digital asset firms Coinbase and Ripple, as well as the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The PACs have already spent money backing an array of pro-crypto candidates across the country. The spending thus far has focused mostly on House races, but the group sunk more than $10 million into an ad campaign attacking Democratic Rep. Katie Porter‘s California Senate campaign.