# Coinbase Political Spending [[Coinbase]] is the biggest funder of the crypto industry's political machine. Most of its money goes to [[Fairshake PAC]] and its two affiliated super PACs, [[Defend American Jobs]] (which backs Republicans) and Protect Progress (which backs Democrats). Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts as long as they don't coordinate with candidates; see [[Super PACs]]. ## Money to the Fairshake network | What | Amount | When | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Coinbase contributions in the 2024 cycle | more than $75M | through Nov 2024 | CNBC | | [[Brian Armstrong]], personally | $1M | 2024 cycle | CNBC | | Pledge for the 2026 midterms | $25M | announced Oct 30, 2024 | The Block | | Coinbase's total to the network in FEC records | $56.1M, including a $23M donation made in bitcoin in December 2024 | as counted Sep 2026 | CryptoSlate | These figures come from different sources counting different periods, so they overlap and should not be added together. The documented personal figure for Armstrong is $1 million; reports of a $25 million personal gift confuse him with the company. Armstrong also gave more than $1.3 million directly to candidates in the 2024 cycle. In August 2024, Public Citizen and researcher [[Molly White]] filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that Coinbase's $25 million gift broke the ban on contributions from federal contractors. Coinbase disputed it. See [[Fairshake PAC]]. ## The 2026 war chest and where it's going - The Fairshake network said on January 28, 2026 that it had **more than $193 million** to spend. - Through August 31, 2026, Fairshake itself had raised $137.9 million and had $108.3 million in cash; it had passed $70 million to its affiliates ($37 million to Defend American Jobs and $33 million to Protect Progress). - By late September the network had spent about $70 million on ads and other independent spending across 54 races, according to CryptoSlate. The biggest targets: | Race | Candidate | Spending | As of | |---|---|---|---| | Ohio Senate ([[OH-Sen-2026-Special]]) | against [[Sherrod Brown]], for [[Jon Husted]] | about $46.7M against Brown this year | FEC filing signed Oct 15, 2026 | | Alabama Senate | for [[Barry Moore]] | $12.2M | Sep 2026 | | Illinois Senate | against [[Juliana Stratton]] | $9.7M | Sep 2026 | | Kentucky | for [[Andy Barr]] | $7.2M | Sep 2026 | Brown, a former chair of the Senate Banking Committee, was among the crypto industry's toughest critics in Congress. The single biggest purchase in the race was a $12.1 million ad buy supporting Husted; see [[Defend American Jobs 12.1M Ohio Senate IE]]. [[Stand With Crypto]], the advocacy group Coinbase launched in 2023, grades politicians on crypto and runs its own 2026 endorsement slate. ## Trump's inauguration and ballroom - **Inauguration:** Coinbase gave **$1 million** to the [[2025 Trump Inaugural Fund]], according to Senate disclosures reported in January 2025. - **White House ballroom:** Coinbase is one of the named donors to Trump's [[White House Ballroom Project]]; the amount has not been disclosed. Asked in November 2025 whether the gift was made to keep good relations with the White House, president [[Emilie Choi]] answered: "Sure." ## Ties to the Trump family's crypto ventures Coinbase decides which tokens its customers can trade. Since the 2024 election it has added three tied to the Trump family: - the $TRUMP memecoin, added to its listing roadmap on January 19, 2025 (see [[$TRUMP Memecoin Universe]]); - [[USD1]], the stablecoin of [[World Liberty Financial]], listed August 22, 2025; - WLFI, World Liberty's governance token, supported from about September 1, 2025. ## Federal lobbying What Coinbase reported spending on its own in-house lobbying: | Quarter | 2025 | 2026 | |---|---|---| | Q1 | $1.16M | $1.07M | | Q2 | $0.97M | $1.16M | | Q3 | $0.77M | $1.04M | | Q4 | $0.82M | — | | **Total** | **$3.72M** | **$3.27M so far** | Amended filings raise the 2025 total to $3.79 million. Outside lobbying firms report separately; in Q3 2026 Coinbase paid seven of them, including Mayer Brown and Franklin Square, between $60,000 and $180,000 each. The 2026 reports list the [[CLARITY Act]], the [[GENIUS Act]] and digital-asset tax bills. See [[Lobbying]]. ## Sources - [CNBC via NBC Chicago, Nov 4, 2024](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/business/money-report/coinbase-a16z-and-others-pour-more-than-78-million-into-pro-crypto-pac-for-2026-election/3591274/) · [The Block, Oct 31, 2024](https://www.theblock.co/post/323881/coinbase-pledges-25-million-to-fairshake-pac-in-2026-midterms) - [CryptoSlate, Sep 22, 2026](https://cryptoslate.com/crypto-firms-put-206-million-behind-the-midterms-heres-who-their-political-machine-is-backing/) · [The Block, Jan 2026](https://www.theblock.co/post/387514/crypto-pac-fairshake-amasses-war-chest-ahead-november-midterms) · [Decrypt, Oct 17, 2026](https://decrypt.co/381238/crypto-super-pac-fairshake-pours-millions-more-into-defeating-sherrod-brown) - [InvestmentNews, Jan 31, 2025](https://investmentnews.com/industry-news/robinhood-coinbase-among-trump-inauguration-committee-donors/259135) · [AP list of ballroom donors](https://www.wavy.com/news/politics/ap-these-are-the-37-donors-helping-pay-for-trumps-300-million-white-house-ballroom/amp/) - [BusinessWire: USD1 on Coinbase](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250822028641/en/World-Liberty-Financial%E2%80%99s-Stablecoin-USD1-Now-Available-on-Coinbase) · [CoinDesk: $TRUMP listing plan](https://hotfix.coindesk.com/markets/2025/01/19/coinbase-binance-plan-to-list-donald-trumps-official-trump-token-after-its-phenomenal-debut) - [Lobbying disclosures (lda.gov)](https://lda.gov/api/v1/filings/?registrant_name=Coinbase&filing_year=2026) ## See also - [[Coinbase Dossier]] — the full dossier - [[Fairshake PAC]] · [[Crypto-Political Machine]] · [[Crypto-Political Machine News Log]]