What Did Crypto Investors Get for Their $189 Million Bet?

Ripple's dual bets reflect the anxiety of crypto investors.

Written by: Teresa Xie, Bloomberg

Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News

Editor’s Note: The crypto industry has poured substantial funds into the 2026 midterm elections, hoping for a more lenient regulatory environment, yet underestimated public resistance to capital's influence in politics. Teresa Xie reviews this political gamble, examining ballots, regulatory expectations, and the crypto market, ultimately presenting a starkly different outcome than the industry anticipated. Here’s the content of the article:

An audience member cheers during an election night event in Los Angeles as news reports show election results. Photographer: Caroline Brehman / Bloomberg

The Dust Settles

Billionaires in the crypto space have always been outspoken, whether promoting the advantages of blockchain or pushing various sci-fi projects.

On political issues, this self-proclaimed group of digital world leaders insists that the crypto industry should have its own set of regulatory rules. To achieve this goal, they have been core donors in the recent two U.S. election cycles (including this midterm election).

In 2024, they bet that Trump would adopt a crypto-friendly policy, expecting a return on this political investment; however, this time, they learned that money is not everything. The Democratic Party swept both the House and Senate, leaving major donors in the crypto industry in a predicament, mirroring the situation of other tech elites who faced criticism after failed gambles.

Peter Loge, Dean of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, stated: "Cryptocurrency is just one part of a larger narrative: the tech industry seems to be out of control, and the billionaires who control it appear indifferent to the interests of ordinary Americans. The Republican Party has become associated with this image of unrestrained elites, and the crypto industry has been lumped in with that label."

Candidates Supported by the Crypto Camp Suffer Defeats

The regulatory winds may shift again in the future, but thanks to long-term lobbying efforts, the crypto industry has secured some favorable outcomes that are hard to overturn. Trump signed the landmark GENIUS Act, establishing a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins; regulators have also begun to roll out policies that lower operational thresholds for digital asset companies. With Congress under Democratic control, stricter regulations are likely to be pushed forward, limiting the autonomy of regulatory agencies, although officials appointed by Trump are still in office.

Public interest group Public Citizen reported that, as of the first quarter of the 2026 midterm election cycle, crypto companies had donated a total of $189 million to various political action committees, surpassing the $119 million invested in supporting pro-crypto factions in 2024; during the same period, super PACs focused on artificial intelligence issues additionally invested $72.3 million in this election.

The political returns on this massive funding have been minimal. In 12 fiercely contested races where AI and crypto-related super PACs heavily invested, 9 of their supported candidates lost. The crypto industry's most significant defeat occurred in Ohio: Fairshake, the largest crypto PAC in the U.S., invested $64 million to support Jon Husted, who ultimately lost to strong opponent Sherrod Brown, a staunch critic of crypto policies.

(Note: PAC, Political Action Committee, is a political action committee in the U.S. used to raise funds to influence elections; Fairshake is a super PAC for the crypto industry that can raise unlimited funds but cannot directly transfer money to candidates.)

Crypto and tech researcher and contributor to the communications column "Citation Needed" Molly White commented: "Overall, this election was a disaster for the crypto industry. The crypto side only made small investments in a few safe districts, which met expectations; however, in the swing districts where they poured in heavy funding, the results were quite poor."

Industry propaganda, however, deliberately focuses on positive outcomes. The grassroots advocacy organization Stand With Crypto, initiated with the help of Coinbase, claims that pro-crypto lawmakers secured 228 seats in the House and 19 seats in the Senate.

In this election, 19 senators supporting crypto and 8 opposing it were elected, along with 228 representatives supporting crypto and 106 opposing it, while the Democratic Party secured control of both chambers.

The crypto political action committee Fairshake stated in an email: "Fairshake played a substantial role in several competitive elections in 2026, and we will continue to participate in the 2028 elections. New and incumbent lawmakers will have to make a choice: either protect consumers and safeguard American jobs or hinder industry progress. We will continue to observe, and 2028 will present a new electoral landscape."

Meanwhile, there are also risk-hedging behaviors emerging within the industry. Even though Ripple remains one of Fairshake's most important funders, its co-founder Chris Larsen still contributed $4 million to support Brown. For many years, the crypto industry has been striving for clear and stable regulatory rules, and the Democratic Party's midterm election victory raises questions about whether the political dividends the crypto industry has painstakingly secured can be sustained and whether companies can continue to enjoy a lenient regulatory environment.

(Note: Sherrod Brown, a Democratic senator from Ohio, is a strong critic of cryptocurrency. In this election, Fairshake spent $64 million to support opponent Jon Husted in an attempt to unseat him, but he still won; he advocates for strict regulation of crypto and stablecoins, emphasizing consumer protection, and has previously obstructed crypto-friendly legislation while serving as chair of the Senate Banking Committee. Interestingly, Ripple is donating large sums to Fairshake while also personally supporting Brown, which is referred to as industry hedging in the article.)

Molly White stated: "Crypto capital is betting on the right, while voters are moving left with their ballots. The public is very averse to external funding interfering in elections, and this time, the attempts of crypto billionaires to leverage money to influence elections have become a focal point of public discourse."

WLFI Drops Due to Midterm Election Results

The Democratic Party's victory has severely impacted these crypto assets deeply tied to politics. WLFI tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, co-founded by Trump, dropped about 6% on Wednesday; the meme coin named after him fell by about 20%.

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