Fairshake PAC and the 2024 Elections
Crypto-industry money, the races it was spent in, and the vote that followed
In the 2024 cycle the crypto super PAC Fairshake reported $177.5M in receipts across 85 tracked contributions, led by Coinbase ($68.5M) and the Andreessen Horowitz founders ($33.5M each). Follow the FEC-reported money from Coinbase and Ripple through Fairshake and its two affiliates to specific races, then to the House vote on FIT21 on May 22, 2024.
Dollar figures are reconciled to the records held in this database. Each one says what it measures. The trail shows who gave, who spent for or against whom, and what was enacted, with dates. It does not establish that one caused another.
Coinbase is Fairshake's largest tracked contributor
tracked direct giving to Fairshake, 4 contributions, 2023-11-03 to 2024-12-20
Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, gave $68.5M to Fairshake in four contributions between November 2023 and December 2024, and $75.5M in federal political giving overall in the 2024 cycle as tracked here. During the same period the company was defending an SEC enforcement action over unregistered securities.
Cryptocurrency exchange (Coinbase Global, Inc.). Largest single corporate funder of the Fairshake super-PAC network: $75.5M in federal political contributions in the 2024 FEC cycle, of which $68.5M we...
Ripple Labs gives to both Fairshake affiliates
tracked direct giving to Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, 2 contributions, 2023-12-15
Ripple Labs, then in its own multi-year SEC lawsuit, gave $1.5M each to Fairshake's two affiliated committees, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, on December 15, 2023. Both affiliates spend in the primaries and general-election races the main PAC does not.
Blockchain payments company (XRP). Contributed $4,000,000 to the Fairshake network in the 2024 FEC cycle while defending an SEC enforcement action.
Fairshake routes money to two affiliates and spends in races
tracked receipts, 85 contributions, 2024 cycle
Fairshake reported $177.5M in receipts across the 85 contributions tracked here. It transferred $86.3M to its affiliates — $54.6M to Defend American Jobs (Republican races) and $31.4M to Protect Progress (Democratic races) — and itself reported $26.0M of independent expenditures supporting candidates and $14.7M opposing them, plus $25.4M of IE rows the FEC file leaves without a support/oppose flag.
The primary crypto industry super PAC, funded principally by Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz. Active in the 2024 federal cycle.
Fairshake spends $10.1M against Rep. Katie Porter
independent expenditures OPPOSING Porter, FEC-reported 2024-02-23
Fairshake reported $10.1M in independent expenditures opposing Rep. Katie Porter in the March 2024 California Senate primary — spending against her, not giving to her. Porter had criticised crypto-industry practices on the House Financial Services Committee. She finished third in the primary on March 5, 2024.
Member of Congress
The House passes FIT21, 279-136, on May 22, 2024
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4763) passed the House 279-136 on May 22, 2024 (roll call 226). The bill would move primary oversight of most digital assets from the SEC to the CFTC, the outcome Coinbase and Ripple had argued for. The bill page lists each member's vote next to the tracked direct giving they received; it does not establish that the giving caused the vote.
Comprehensive framework defining which digital assets fall under SEC versus CFTC jurisdiction. Passed the House 279 to 136 on May 22, 2024.