WASHINGTON — In the 2024 midterm cycle, 53 out of 58 candidates from around the country that crypto super PACs spent on were elected to Congress. Four of those candidates were from Texas.
This year, crypto super PACs are spending on behalf of a new crop of Texas candidates, and are on track to surpass spending on them and others in the last midterm elections.
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Two PACs, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, have already spent more than $2.5 million on Texas candidates so far this year, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings. Those PACs are affiliated with Fairshake, a massive cryptocurrency warchest that reported $193 million cash on hand at the beginning of 2026.
Combined with other crypto-aligned super PACs, at least $28 million have been spent on behalf of candidates across the country at this point in the midterm election cycle. Two years ago, these PACs had only spent about $22 million at the same point in the cycle, according to FEC filings.
At this point in the 2024 midterm cycle, Protect Progress was the only crypto super PAC spending on Texas candidates and it spent almost $1 million, all on behalf of Rep. Julie Johnson, who went on to win her Democratic primary a few days later and eventually the general election in November. Protect Progress, along with three other super PACs including Defend American Jobs and Fairshake, went on to spend a total of $2.5 million up until the November races on Texas candidates including Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Rep. Craig Goldman.
Major cryptocurrency-related legislation has passed since the last midterm election, including the GENIUS Act, the first federal action regulating the industry that passed with bipartisan support in July 2025. The crypto industry backed the bill, which formed a regulatory framework that paves the way for future crypto policy, but their surge in spending might signal its concerns about more industry restrictions.
Bills like the Clarity Act, which critics say could weaken regulatory oversight on the crypto industry, is still being negotiated in Congress and is just one piece of legislation that could shape future crypto policy.
“The fear is there’s going to be significant regulation on the part of Congress, and so [crypto PACs] want to find people who would be willing to at least listen to them,” said Daron Shaw, a government professor at University of Texas at Austin.
Rep. Christian Menefee alone has received nearly two-thirds of the crypto spending in Texas races — Protect Progress, Fairshake’s progressive arm, has spent more than $1.5 million on the candidate to defeat Rep. Al Green, according to FEC filings. Green was drawn out of his seat in last year’s redistricting and faces Menefee — who was elected at the end of January in a special election — in a runoff to represent the area covering inner Houston and the surrounding Harris County areas.
Green, who sits on the House Financial Service Committee, has voted against pro-crypto legislation, including the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act. He’s also been outspoken about cryptocurrency’s potential to weaken the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions and cryptomining’s contribution to climate change.
Menefee, meanwhile, wrote on his re-election campaign site that blockchain technology, which is necessary to store crypto data securely, offers the potential to “increase trust, transparency and efficiency” with rules to protect consumers. Industry group Stand with Crypto gave an “A” rating to Menefee and an “F” to Green.
“When you get an ‘F’ that means they don’t like you,” Green said on March 19 on the House floor. “When they don’t like you, they’ll do whatever they can … to expel you, to evict you.”
Menefee, who has a major financial advantage over Green, said he recognizes the prevalence of crypto and blockchain technology and wants to regulate it to prevent scams.
“Over 70 million Americans have crypto right now, and a lot of them are young, a lot of them live in Texas-18, a lot of them are Black and brown folks,” Menefee said in an interview. “My job is to protect them, and you can’t protect people when you refuse to engage on an issue.”
The generational divide between Green, who is 78, and Menefee, who is 37, has become a campaign issue, with Menefee highlighting his new energy and Green pointing to his seniority. Menefee said compared to their older peers, people in his generation have a more favorable view on emerging issues like crypto, and that policymakers shouldn’t “bury [their] heads in the sand.”
Green did not respond to a request for comment.
Defend American Jobs, which supports Republican candidates, has spent about $771,000 on behalf of Jessica Steinmann, who is running to replace retiring Magnolia Rep. Morgan Luttrell in Congress. Steinmann, who worked for the Trump administration and Sen. Ted Cuz, pitches herself on her campaign site as a “strong supporter of digital assets, blockchain technology and financial innovation that expands economic freedom” and said she backs pro-growth policies that don’t stifle innovation and “keep crypto entrepreneurs here at home.”
The same PAC spent about $92,000 on Chris Gober, a conservative attorney who is looking to fill retiring Rep. Michael McCaul’s seat in Central Texas. While Gober doesn’t directly mention crypto as a key issue on his campaign site, he pledges to boost technology investment and position Austin and the Brazos Valley as “America’s center for innovation.”
The PAC also spent about $141,000 on behalf of Trever Nehls, the twin brother of Rep. Troy Nehls, who ended his bid for reelection in November. Trever Nehls won his primary election in the solidly red district outside of Houston.
Michael Beckel with Issue One, a D.C.-based nonpartisan organization aimed at reducing the influence of money in politics, said cryptocurrency was a fringe component of the financial industry prior to the Trump administration and current Congress and the industry now “wants their voices heard at the table.”
“The cryptocurrency industry wants people in Washington and in state houses to be able to pick up their phone calls,” he said.
Adam Green, co-founder of political group Progressive Change Campaign Committee that works to elect anti-corruption candidates, said crypto super PACs outspent and were more effective than other major super PACs at electing their favored candidates in 2024, and are set to do it again.
“Crypto was successful last cycle in being the only player on the block, and having a chilling effect on political leaders being willing to put any rules or guardrails,” Green said.