Update (Sept. 28, 8:52 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from Jon Husted’s campaign.

A political action committee (PAC) aligned with and largely funded by the cryptocurrency industry has reported spending more than $11 million on ads supporting Republican Jon Husted and opposing Democrat Sherrod Brown in the race for one of Ohio’s seats in the United States Senate.

In a Thursday filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Defend American Jobs PAC, affiliated with Fairshake — a group backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs — reported spending $11.4 million on media supporting Husted and opposing Brown’s potential return to the Senate. The spending was disclosed as an independent expenditure, the FEC’s designation for political advertising made without coordination with a candidate’s campaign. The Sept. 24 filing showed ad buys that appeared to be part of Fairshake’s pledge to initially spend $30 million in the Ohio race in an attempt to block Brown, who previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee and was one of the more outspoken voices in Congress against pro-crypto legislation and policies. The Banking Committee holds jurisdiction over federal financial regulation, making its chairmanship a central perch for shaping legislation that touches digital assets.

Cointelegraph reached out to Brown’s campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response. Amy Natoce, a spokesperson for Husted’s campaign, told Cointelegraph that the Democratic candidate faced an “onslaught of ads coming his way” and that “Ohioans already fired Sherrod Brown once.”

When asked about cryptocurrency in an August 2025 inquiry following the launch of his Senate race, Brown told Cointelegraph: “Cryptocurrency is a part of America’s economy, and becoming more commonplace in Ohio and throughout the country. Just like what guides all my work, my goal is to make sure that as more people use cryptocurrency, it expands opportunity and lifts up Ohioans and they are not put at risk.”

2024 Race Drew More Than $300 Million in Outside Spending

The 2024 Ohio Senate contest between Brown, then an incumbent, and Republican Bernie Moreno resulted in more than $300 million in spending from outside groups like Fairshake, making it one of the most expensive Senate races of the 2024 cycle. FEC records showed that the crypto-aligned PAC and its affiliates alone spent about $41 million to oppose Brown and support Moreno. The Republican won the election with 50.2% of the vote to Brown’s 46.4%.

Husted was appointed to his Senate seat by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine after it was vacated by then-Senator JD Vance, who was elected US vice president in 2024. The seat will be decided in the November 2026 general election, and future FEC filings will show whether Fairshake-aligned spending in the race ultimately stays within the group’s initial $30 million pledge.

Who Else Is the Crypto Industry Supporting in Ohio Politics?

Vivek Ramaswamy, a co-founder of the digital asset management company Strive, ran as a Republican in the 2024 US presidential election and often spoke favorably about crypto and blockchain. He did not serve in the Trump administration; instead, shortly after the president’s 2025 inauguration, he announced plans to run for governor of Ohio and won the Republican nomination in May 2026 He will face off against Democrat Amy Acton in November.

As a gubernatorial candidate, the Republican has financial support from three co-founders of the Trump family’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial: Chase Herro, Zak Folkman and Zachary Witkoff, all of whom donated the maximum amount of $16,615 each to Ramaswamy’s campaign. His PAC, “V-PAC: Victors, Not Victims,” also included donations totaling $20 million from Susquehanna International Group co-founder Jeff Yass, $6 million from NYDIG founder Ross Stevens and $5,000 from the Bitcoin Voter Project.