Crypto blitzes U.S. midterms with $176 million as it prepares for post-Trump era

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House Crypto Summit at the White House in Washington in March 2025. | REUTERS

Oct 28, 2026

NEW YORK – The crypto industry has spent roughly $176 million across more than 100 midterm races this election cycle, as part of a yearslong plan to build a bipartisan coalition of allies in Congress that can advance its interests long after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office.

The $2.75 trillion industry, and the billionaires who built it, are aggressively spending to elect friendly candidates while targeting politicians they see as a threat, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen crypto political strategists and a Reuters review of the spending.

While the industry’s recent spending blitz is known, its long-term plan to further its legislative agenda is less well-understood. The industry isn’t just looking for allies; it is trying to pick candidates who already have a chance of winning, and can help once they get to Congress, the strategists said.

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