The crypto caucus.
Cynthia Lummis is the deepest case, but she isn't alone. An industry that spent nearly $180 million in one election — on Republicans and Democrats alike — has a lot of friends writing its rules.
Here's the money machine, and a graded roster of the lawmakers on both sides tied to it — documented sponsorships, votes, and checks. We name the ties; we don't call anyone bought.
What this page is about
Our Bitcoin-senator fact-check looked at one lawmaker. But the crypto industry didn't buy one senator; it built a bench. The Fairshake super-PAC network spent close to $180 million in the 2024 cycle, has well over a hundred million more banked for 2026, and — crucially — spends on both parties, while spending against anyone, of either party, who crosses it.
This page does two things. It documents the machine, and it lays out a bipartisan roster of the lawmakers most tied to it — the Republicans who wrote the bills and the Democrats who crossed over to pass them, each with the specific, sourced connection. It's the “who else” companion to the Lummis piece, and it is deliberately even-handed: this is not a one-party story.
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The crypto caucus.
Lummis is the deepest case, but she isn't alone. An industry that spent nearly $180 million in one election — on Republicans and Democrats alike — has a lot of friends writing its rules.
The machine, and how it works
The crypto industry's super PAC spent ~$180 million in 2024 — and it backs both parties.
FACTThe Fairshake super-PAC network (Fairshake plus affiliates like Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs) spent close to $180 million in the 2024 cycle and reported roughly $141 million on hand for 2026. It is explicitly bipartisan — it backed pro-crypto Republicans and Democrats — though it put more into Republican races ($53M vs $33.4M in competitive seats, by one count). Andreessen Horowitz alone gave $25 million.
It doesn't just reward friends — it destroys skeptics of either party.
FACTThe machine's real teeth are negative. Fairshake spent more than $40 million to help defeat Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown — the Senate Banking chair and a crypto skeptic — by boosting Republican Bernie Moreno, and it spent $10 million against Democrat Katie Porter in her California Senate primary. The lesson for every member of Congress was unmistakable: cross crypto and you're next.
Republicans wrote the bills; Democrats crossed over to pass them.
FACTThe stablecoin GENIUS Act was led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN); the House market-structure CLARITY Act by Rep. French Hill (R-AR), who chairs Financial Services and co-signed Lummis's 2023 letter urging DOJ charges against Tether. On the Democratic side, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) co-authored the crypto framework with Lummis, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) co-founded the Congressional Crypto Caucus and whipped Democrats to back CLARITY, and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is the digital-assets subcommittee's top Democrat. The bipartisan sheen is real — and so are the ties behind it.
Several of the key Democrats got crypto money right before championing crypto bills.
FACTRep. Ritchie Torres has taken hundreds of thousands from crypto executives (Coinbase, Ripple, a16z, and more) and leads Democrats in crypto donations. Sen. Ruben Gallego's 2024 Senate race was boosted by roughly $10 million from the Fairshake affiliate Protect Progress, and he later held a fundraiser with a16z's Marc Andreessen. These are disclosed facts about who funds the industry's Democratic allies — not, on their own, proof of a quid pro quo.
Who's who, both sides
Named ties, documented. Party, role, and the specific connection to the crypto push. Grouped by side, because the point is that there are two.
Republicans
Cynthia Lummis
R-WYDigital-assets subcommittee chairThe deepest case: owns Bitcoin, sponsors a bill to have the Treasury buy a million of it, family and donor ties throughout. Fully graded on her own page.
The tie: See The Bitcoin Senator.
Bill Hagerty
R-TNLead sponsor, GENIUS ActWrote the stablecoin law that gave the industry — and Tether — a soft federal on-ramp. A consistent, vocal crypto backer.
The tie: Authored the stablecoin runway the reply to Lummis pointed at.
French Hill
R-ARChair, House Financial ServicesLead author of the market-structure CLARITY Act, and Lummis's co-signer on the 2023 letter urging the DOJ to charge Tether — before helping write the rules that ease crypto's path.
The tie: The House engine of the bill Lummis defended.
Tommy Tuberville
R-ALCrypto 'champion'Calls Trump the 'crypto president' and pushes crypto bills — and separately holds one of Congress's worst records for late financial disclosures (132 STOCK Act violations covering trades worth up to $3.56M, penalty paid).
The tie: Advocacy plus a documented disclosure problem.
Bernie Moreno
R-OHSenatorThe clearest example of the money working: Fairshake spent $40M+ to help him beat crypto skeptic Sherrod Brown. He now votes the industry's way.
The tie: Elected on the back of the crypto war chest.
Democrats
Ruben Gallego
D-AZTop Democrat, digital-assets subcommitteeOne of the two Democrats who crossed over to advance the CLARITY Act. His 2024 Senate race was boosted ~$10M by the Fairshake affiliate Protect Progress; he later fundraised with a16z's Marc Andreessen.
The tie: Crossover vote + heavy crypto backing.
Kirsten Gillibrand
D-NYSenatorLummis's Democratic co-author on the sweeping crypto framework (the Responsible Financial Innovation Act) and the Lummis–Gillibrand stablecoin bill. The bipartisan face of the effort from the start.
The tie: Co-wrote the crypto rulebook with Lummis.
Ritchie Torres
D-NYHouse Financial ServicesLeads Democrats in crypto-industry donations (hundreds of thousands from Coinbase, Ripple, a16z, and others), co-founded the Congressional Crypto Caucus, and whipped fellow Democrats to vote for CLARITY.
The tie: The industry's top Democratic vote-getter and organizer.
Angela Alsobrooks
D-MDSenatorThe other Democratic crossover vote for CLARITY, and pro-crypto in her stated positions — but she also signed on to anti-corruption legislation to bar top officials from issuing or endorsing crypto. A reminder that a 'yes' vote isn't automatically a bought one.
The tie: Crossover vote — with a genuine anti-corruption caveat.
What's proven, and the fairness of it
- The money and the ties are documented. Fairshake's spending, the sponsorships, the votes, and the donations are all on the public record. That's what grades to FACT.
- It really is both parties. We went looking for a one-sided story and didn't find one. The bills are Republican-led, but Democrats supplied the crossover votes and some of the earliest architecture, and the industry funds both. Any honest map of the crypto caucus has members of each party on it.
- Donations aren't proof of a deal. A lawmaker can take crypto money and vote for crypto bills out of genuine belief; a rancher-senator from a crypto-friendly state can mean it. We document the alignment of money and votes without asserting that one bought the other — and we flag the counter-examples, like a crossover Democrat backing an anti-corruption crypto ban.
The rulebook and the people who paid for it
The reason a $180-million-and-counting war chest matters isn't any single vote — it's that it makes crypto policy a place where the industry sets the terms and both parties compete to satisfy it. When the surest way to lose your seat is to cross an industry, “bipartisan” stops meaning “the public agrees” and starts meaning “the donors got to everyone.” That's the argument of the Return on Investment hub, and the crypto caucus is its cleanest current example.
It sits with the money-and-influence pieces we've already built — Andreessen's War Room on the a16z political operation that funds much of this, and Big Money for Control — and it's the bipartisan frame for the private-dollar cluster: the same rulebook that benefits Tether and the Commerce Secretary's stake in it was voted through by members of both parties this page names.
Questions worth taking seriously
Isn't this just 'both sides' whataboutism to protect Republicans?
No — the bills are Republican-led and we say so. But the crypto industry is genuinely bipartisan in its spending, and Democrats supplied crucial crossover votes and early architecture. Pretending only one party takes crypto money would be false, and it is the kind of overreach that lets the whole critique get dismissed. Naming both sides is what makes it credible.
Does taking crypto money mean a lawmaker is corrupt?
Not by itself. Legal donations plus aligned votes are a conflict-of-interest and influence story, not a proven bribe. Some of these members clearly believe in the policy. We document the alignment and let you judge how much of it is conviction and how much is the check.
If you are named on this page
If you are named on this page, or are a party materially affected by the claims made here, and you wish to respond, correct the record, or add context, use the Contact page. Responses are published verbatim alongside the original claim, with the sender identified and the date of receipt. The channel stays open for the life of the page.
This site aggregates and grades a record that other outlets and primary sources have already put on the record. Every FACT-graded claim above is sourced to court filings, government reports, sworn whistleblower disclosures, published investigative journalism, or named-source statements. The citations are the accountability mechanism; this section is how you get on the record too.
The record
- The New Republic — the crypto industry's ~$180M in 2024 spending
- WOSU/NPR — crypto spent millions to defeat Sherrod Brown, ready to repeat in 2026
- Yahoo/Guardian — crypto super PAC's $10M against Katie Porter
- Bloomberg — Andreessen Horowitz gives $25M to Fairshake
- Forbes — Hagerty's GENIUS Act (lead sponsor)
- Decrypt — French Hill to chair House Financial Services
- The Intercept — the crypto super PAC backs Democrat Ritchie Torres
- CoinDesk — Lummis and Gillibrand's stablecoin bill
- CNBC — Tuberville's STOCK Act disclosure violations