Exclusive: Crypto industry attempts a risky 2024 reboot in Ohio

Fairshake is spending $55 million to keep Ohio Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown off the Hill. The cryptocurrency industry’s leading network of super PACs is yet again spending huge sums against Sherrod Brown in Ohio, despite doubts that the investment will pay off. The network known as Fairshake spent $40 million in 2024 to unseat Brown, then the Senate Banking Committee chair; after Brown lost, crypto antagonist-in-chief Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts replaced him as the panel’s top Democrat. Now, Fairshake is spending $55 million to keep Brown off the Hill, even though Senate rules bar him from reclaiming his Banking seniority if he wins. As Brown pulls ahead in polls, skepticism is mounting that Fairshake’s latest Ohio play will help keep the Senate red — though President Donald Trump will travel there today to help the cause. “That $40 million that Fairshake spent [in 2024] moved the needle zero … and they’re doing it again,” one financial services lobbyist said. Some of Fairshake’s most vocal critics questioned whether its backers are getting a clear picture of the battleground landscape. The Ohio Senate race is the second-most expensive this cycle, with spending topping