The Setup

Fairshake PAC and its affiliated super PACs have committed $3 million each to back Democratic House Reps. Ruben Gallego (Arizona) and Elissa Slotkin (Michigan) in their respective Senate races, according to NBC News reporting from August 14, 2024.

Both are running against Trump-endorsed candidates. Both are Democrats who spent years being openly hostile to crypto. Both recently flipped.

Republicans are furious. They shouldn't be surprised.

Who Is Fairshake?

Fairshake PAC is the cryptocurrency industry's main political vehicle. The industry as a whole has raised more than $100 million to spend on House and Senate races this cycle, per NBC News. That's a war chest.

The PAC's spokesperson Josh Vlasto says Fairshake supports candidates who "embrace innovation, want to protect American jobs and are committed to working across the aisle." Translation: they back whoever votes their way, regardless of party label.

The Democrats Who Flipped

Gallego didn't just quietly oppose crypto. In 2022, he bragged on social media about backing a candidate who "slayed the Crypto beast." He signed onto an Elizabeth Warren-led letter pushing tighter crypto regulation. He criticized Elon Musk for "pushing Bitcoin" and profiting off it. He voted against industry-backed legislation.

Slotkin earned an F-rating from Stand With Crypto as recently as March 2024. March of this year.

Both then crossed party lines to vote for a major crypto bill. Both are now sitting on A-ratings from Stand With Crypto. Both are now getting $3 million in support from the industry they spent years opposing.

The NBC News reporting documents this flip. But it frames it mostly as a GOP grievance story rather than asking the harder question: are these conversions genuine, or are they transactional?

What Republicans Are Actually Complaining About

Top Republicans gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week for retreats hosted by the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Crypto heavyweights were in the room — including venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and representatives from Coinbase.

The GOP had worked hard to position itself as the pro-crypto party. They cultivated those relationships specifically because the Biden administration and Democratic regulators had been hostile to the industry. The play made sense.

Now Fairshake is spending that goodwill on Democrats — in two states that will likely decide Senate control. Republicans warn that Gallego's and Slotkin's crypto support is NOT durable. That concern is legitimate. But it's also self-serving.

What the Coverage Is Missing

Every outlet is framing this as "crypto angers Republicans."

The real story is this: a $100 million-plus political operation just demonstrated it has ZERO party loyalty. It rewards votes, period. Politicians who want that money will vote accordingly. Politicians who don't play ball get targeted — like Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee and is a known crypto skeptic. Fairshake is spending $12 million to unseat him, per NBC News.

This is not a political alliance. This is a payment system. Vote their way, get money. Vote against them, get a $12 million opponent.

Both parties are for sale, and the industry knows it.

Kari Lake vs. Ruben Gallego

In Arizona, Kari Lake holds an A-rating from Stand With Crypto and is described as "very pro-crypto." She got nothing from Fairshake. Gallego — who once celebrated defeating crypto — gets $3 million.

How does that make any sense?

It makes perfect sense when you realize Fairshake isn't trying to reward true believers. It's trying to build a bipartisan bloc that's big enough to pass favorable legislation regardless of which party controls the Senate. Backing Lake only expands one side. Backing Gallego potentially locks in a Democrat who now owes the industry.

That's cold-blooded political math.

What This Means for Regular People

Crypto regulation is going to get decided by whoever controls Congress next year. Right now, the industry is spending enormous sums to make sure that whoever wins owes them something.

If Gallego and Slotkin win and then vote against crypto interests, they'll get hammered next cycle. If they hold the line for the industry, the industry just bought two Senate Democrats for $6 million.

Either way, the voters in Arizona and Michigan are the last thing being thought about in these calculations.

Both parties are getting played by an industry that has no ideology beyond its own survival. The GOP is upset because they thought they had an exclusive deal. They never did.