30s Summary
Crypto businesses, including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, are bolstering their political donations ahead of 2026 midterms. Andreessen Horowitz recently donated an additional $23 million to pro-crypto political action committee Fairshake, joining other frequent contributors like Coinbase and Ripple. This contribution brings Fairshake’s funds for the 2026 midterms to $78 million. Alongside Fairshake, other affiliates like Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs also received hefty donations. Overall, major crypto firms donated over $200 million in the 2023-2024 election cycle.
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The dust hasn’t even settled on the 2024 U.S. presidential election, but crypto businesses are already gearing up their donations for the 2026 midterms. Among them, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, aka a16z, has chipped in another $23 million to the pro-crypto political action committee (PAC) Fairshake for the 2026 election cycle. This was confirmed in a blog post by Chris Dixon, a partner at a16z and the guys in charge of their crypto division.
Chris wrote, “No matter what the final call in the 2024 elections, we’re all in on supporting policymakers, no matter their political party, who will help set up a fair regulatory framework that looks after customers while helping the industry to flourish.”
Fairshake is now sitting pretty with $78 million in their bank for the 2026 midterms, thanks to a16z’s recent donation. This is alongside other contributions to Fairshake and affiliate PACs, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, including a $25 million donation from Coinbase last week.
Coinbase and a16z are regulars in the donation circle to Fairshake, donating over $200 million in the 2023-2024 election cycle. Coinbase’s fresh donation to Fairshake brings its total contribution to the PAC closer to $75 million. And the recent donation by a16z, takes their total commitment to Fairshake to roughly $60 million.
Another major contributor is Ripple, the crypto firm, donating a whopping $50 million to Fairshake for the 2023-2024 elections. When asked about any future donations for the 2026 elections, a rep from Ripple said the company plans to remain a force in DC for the foreseeable future, but didn’t have any fundraising news on hand right now.
It’s not just Ripple and a16z, other crypto companies on the donation train to Fairshake and affiliate groups include Jump Crypto, Circle, and Kraken.
Please note, an earlier version of this story stated that Coinbase had given almost $100 million in donations to Fairshake. In actual fact, they’ve contributed approximately $75 million. This story was edited by Nikhilesh De.