Ripple and Coinbase-funded PAC drops $2M on Florida congressional race

The crypto industry’s most powerful political weapon is taking aim at Florida. Fairshake, the super PAC bankrolled by Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and other digital asset heavyweights, has directed roughly $2 million toward a congressional race in Florida’s 24th district, turning what might have been a sleepy special election into a test case for how far crypto money can reshape American politics. The trigger: a retiring Florida House member who voted against both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act has endorsed a Democratic candidate in the race. That endorsement appears to have painted a target on the candidate’s opponents, with Fairshake gearing up a wave of negative advertising to tip the scales toward lawmakers more sympathetic to digital asset innovation. Fairshake’s growing war chest Fairshake and its affiliated organizations, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, have collectively raised somewhere between $100 million and $193 million across recent election cycles. The $2 million earmarked for the FL-24 race sits alongside nearly $1.5 million the PAC has already spent on ads tied to other 2025 special elections. The legislation that started the fight The GENIUS Act, which est...