Coinbase-Backed Crypto Group Reveals Midterm Endorsements After Clarity Act Collapse
In brief
- Stand With Crypto unveiled a bipartisan slate of Senate and House endorsements, including its first Senate picks.
- The group, which judges candidates on crypto policy "regardless of party," is ramping up ads in six House races, building on its August endorsement of 32 House incumbents.
- The push follows the Clarity Act's 49-50 Senate failure and amid heavy crypto political spending.
Stand With Crypto, the advocacy group Coinbase launched in 2023, unveiled a bipartisan slate of Senate and House endorsements Wednesday, sharpening its electoral push roughly a month before November's midterms and two weeks after the Clarity Act collapsed in the Senate.
The group's first Senate endorsements span three races. In Ohio, it is backing Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who faces former Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, a longtime crypto skeptic.
It also endorsed Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, running for a Senate seat in Iowa, and Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, running in New Hampshire against former GOP Sen. John Sununu. The group said it picks candidates based on their crypto policy positions "regardless of party."
On the House side, the endorsements include Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Alabama Democrat Shomari Figures, and the group said it would ramp up advertising in six House campaigns. It builds on an earlier round in August, when Stand With Crypto endorsed 32 House incumbents it called "proven digital asset policy champions."
The timing is pointed, given the recent Clarity Act fallout and the ensuing not-so-subtle threats the lobbying group directed at lawmakers who voted against it.
The Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a 49-50 vote last month, with Democrats voting as a bloc amid concerns over President Donald Trump's crypto dealings. Stand With Crypto framed that defeat as a turning point, warning at the time that senators' votes would be added to its public scorecard and that its supporters would judge lawmakers at the ballot box.
→Executive Director Mason Lynaugh has said the group's more than three million advocates are now fully focused on electing pro-crypto candidates.
The endorsements land inside a torrent of crypto political money. Unlike super PACs, Stand With Crypto doesn't make direct campaign contributions, instead focusing on voter mobilization and grading candidates through its Voter Hub.
But candidates it rates highly often draw funding from industry-aligned PACs. The Fairshake super PAC recently launched a $30 million spending blitz against Brown, and combined crypto-aligned political spending has approached roughly $200 million for the 2026 cycle.
The Husted endorsement underscores the stakes. Brown's return would hand crypto skeptics a powerful voice on the Senate Banking Committee, making Ohio a marquee test of whether the industry's electoral machine can move votes.
For now, the message from the sector's grassroots arm is clear: with Congress having stalled, the fight moves to the campaign trail.