Big Crypto declares war on the Democratic Party

Subscribe to help us fight fascism—free or paid, your support matters. To help us grow, you can always drop us a tip.

Without control of the US Senate, the Democratic Party has little hope of ever fixing… pretty much anything. 

Taking back the Supreme Court and our abortion rights, restoring voting rights protections, and inviting DC or Puerto Rico to join the union as a state all require control of the upper house of Congress. And the crypto industry has decided it would like Republicans to deny our ability to do any of that, possibly for the rest of our lives.

Punchbowl, where we go to read GOP PR, tells us:

Scoop: Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) will have an ally in his second Senate run that he didn’t have in his first: crypto campaign cash.

First Principles Digital, a new pro-crypto super PAC that supports Republicans, is endorsing Rogers’ 2026 bid and committing to a “multi-million-dollar” campaign spend in the primary and general election.

…

Republicans would love to avoid a messy Senate primary in Michigan, which is one of their best pickup opportunities. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is retiring and Democrats have a crowded field of candidates.

Thielman was the executive director of the NRSC during the 2024 cycle when Republicans took back the majority. Under his tenure, the committee aggressively played in primaries to secure their preferred candidates.

Florida man plans to scam Michigan 

If Republicans were to install recent (if not current) Florida resident Mike Rogers into the US Senate, that would turn the Democrats’ daunting Senate map into a coffin for progress in this country.

And if anyone can help them do it, it’s Big Crypto, Punchbowl explains:

This spend is notable for two reasons: First, crypto forces were united against Rogers in 2024 — albeit different crypto forces.

The Fairshake super PAC network backed Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) over Rogers, throwing more than $10 million behind her campaign. The only candidate who benefited more from crypto spending was Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who toppled former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) with more than $40 million in Fairshake support.

Republicans failed to defeat Brown for decades until Big Crypto drowned out the working-class hero for daring to say, “Let's Regulate Crypto and Protect Consumers.”

Brown himself is weighing a 2026 run for the Ohio US Senate seat JD Vance held and is probably trying to decide if it’s even possible to overcome the tens of millions he knows Big Crypto will throw at him. 

Notably, Big Crypto, recognizing its unpopularity, played out racist dog whistles about immigration to target Brown and didn’t delve into why they were attacking him for protecting consumers from unchecked digital crime bucks.

Hiding the crypto ball was a consistent strategy across the country, noted Dennis Kelleher:

In fact, Politico recently noted that of the ads developed by crypto political action committees this cycle “not a single one mentions crypto.” Or as one headline put it, “Want a crypto-friendly Congress? Run ads that don’t mention crypto.”

It’s as if Ford ran an ad campaign and never mentioned its cars.

The strategy was a brazen attempt to buy influence while keeping the public unaware of what they were supporting. This way, the industry can claim the now-elected officials they backed have a mandate from the public to support crypto interests — even though they don’t.

We need the former Senator to run again, and we need the entire Democratic Party to understand there’s no splitting the baby on crypto any longer. 

The stakes are now obvious

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of cryptocurrency is, given that its primary use in society has been to fuel cybercrime and dark web exploitation worldwide? 

Well, now we all know what scholar Brooke Harrington has been trying to tell you:

Supporting crypto, as 16 Democrats in the Senate recently did with their vote, allowing a simple Republican majority to pass the GENIUS Act, probably feels like a good career move, even when they’re inviting Donald Trump to engage in the most obvious corruption by any president in American history.

So, how do we defeat the monster?

The 2024 election was the nightmare that Citizens United and related decisions promised would come true. Given that the Crypto industry creates money out of thin air, how do we defeat a shameless sector that has enough shame to hide its true intent?

Well, we have to spend a lot of time, money, and effort connecting their actions to their product. Because Americans don’t want unregulated Crypto, it freaks them out.

Voters get that these “assets” are shady by design, and this isn’t the result of any advertising. It’s the result of recognizing that the only purpose of crypto is to buy some and hope it goes up. It’s like a stock, except it’s entirely connected to a dislocated sense of reality that has been hyped as the future for tech fascists who hate the idea of average people controlling their future.

Taking on this “lobbying monster” would have been brave before, but now it’s a necessity for both the preservation of the Democratic Party and democracy itself.

Fewer than one in five Americans have ever even dabbled in cryptocurrency. And the idea that this should be the issue that Democrats surrender everything we hope to achieve to a fringe Trojan Horse like this should be ridiculous on its face.

This is a test

Big Crypto gets that Democrats SHOULD be the anti-unfettered scam funny money party, even if far too many Democrats in the Senate don’t. Some Democrats may think putting their head down and their morals may save them, but if one Big Crypto group isn’t coming for them, another will.

The Democratic Senate Primary has become a battle to see if Democrats are willing to stand up to Big Crypto in time. It’s also a test of the Democratic base and its supporters of democracy. Will we give our candidates the courage to go toe-to-toe against the industry that wants to destroy us?

Subscribe to help us fight fascism—free or paid, your support matters. To help us grow, you can always drop us a tip.