Protect Progress Spends $3.1 Million Supporting Adrian Boafo in Maryland’s 5th District Primary

Crypto-backed political action committees are spending millions in multiple U.S. congressional primaries, with Protect Progress spending about $3 million combined to support Democratic candidates in House races across California and New Jersey, according to filings with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of Tuesday.

“PACs de cripto invierten $3M en elecciones de Maryland mientras votantes de California acuden a las urnas En un giro interesante en la política estadounidense, un afiliado de un comité de acción política respaldado por empresas de cripto ha aumentado significativamente su gasto en publicidad en California en vísperas de las primarias de este martes”

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The same FEC filings show Protect Progress spent more than $3.1 million on media to support Adrian Boafo in Maryland’s 5th district, where primary elections are scheduled for June 23, while Defend American Jobs spent more than $411,000 to support Republican Senator Mike Rounds’ reelection bid in South Dakota.

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In New York, the filings cited in the report show about $320,000 in spending to support Ritchie Torres’ reelection to New York’s 15th district, which will also hold a primary on June 23.

The spending surge comes as Fairshake and allied PACs supported candidates who won primary contests in Texas last week, and Fairshake reported more than $193 million in available funds as of January.

Fairshake has said it intends to force out House and Senate lawmakers it considers “anti-crypto,” including Representative Al Green, who voted against the stablecoin legislation GENIUS Act and digital asset market structure bill, CLARITY.

Fairshake-linked groups are targeting lawmakers based on their crypto policy positions as Congress reviews major digital asset bills, and the report ties the PAC’s focus to Representative Al Green’s votes against GENIUS Act and CLARITY.

The same reporting says Protect Progress spent $5 million supporting Christian Menefee, Green’s Democratic primary opponent in Texas’s 18th Congressional District, and that Green later lost that primary.

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In Maryland, the spending is framed as part of a broader election test for the industry’s influence in Congress, with the report pointing to Protect Progress’s media backing of Boafo ahead of the June 23 primaries.

Separately, The San Francisco Standard describes a different kind of political spending fight in the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi, where an attack mailer from a super PAC named Abundant Future includes the line “Saikat is an out-of-town millionaire trying to buy our seat in Congress.”

The Standard also quotes crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, who told The Standard in an email, “I’m super supportive of Scott, the hardest-working legislator I know!”

The next legislative step highlighted in the reporting is the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which the report says was added to the U.S. Senate calendar for consideration and a potential vote after advancement by the US Senate Agriculture Committee in January and the Banking Committee in May.

The reporting also says that both versions of the bill with amendments passed by the respective committees will likely need to be consolidated before a vote, keeping the timeline tied to Senate action.

In Maryland’s 5th district, the political money described in the reporting is connected to Adrian Boafo’s campaign, where the report says Protect Progress spent more than $3.1 million on media backing him.

Maryland Matters adds that Boafo received direct campaign contributions totaling $14,000 from Rep. Steny Hoyer’s network in the first three months of the year, and that Hoyer’s leadership political action committee contributed more than $140,000.

Maryland Matters also says Protect Progress earmarked $243,967.73 to run digital ads in support of Boafo, and it quotes a first spot that leads with Hoyer’s endorsement and says Boafo “is leading the fight against MAGA in Maryland.”