Ripple- and Coinbase-Funded Fairshake Spends Over $2 Million Opposing Oliver Gilbert in Florida

Fairshake backs Gilbert

A Ripple- and Coinbase-funded political action committee, Fairshake, has poured more than $2 million into media opposing Democratic candidate Oliver Gilbert in Florida’s 24th congressional district, according to records with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of Tuesday. Cointelegraph reports that the Protect Progress PAC spent more than $2 million on ads opposing Gilbert, while also noting that Gilbert did not appear to have taken any prominent position on digital assets before the ads were released. The ads come after Representative Frederica Wilson, who voted against the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act and Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act while serving in Congress, endorsed Gilbert at a June 22 event.

Cointelegraph also says Fairshake’s spending is tied to a Florida representative not running for reelection who voted against the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts and endorsed the Democratic candidate. In the same coverage, Cointelegraph adds that Shevrin Jones, a Florida state senator and Democratic candidate ahead of Gilbert in an early August poll, completed a questionnaire with Stand With Crypto and earned him a “strongly supports” rating.

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Ads, endorsements, and pushback

Cointelegraph reports that Gilbert said “[Donald] Trump’s tech billionaire buddies” were behind the “crypto con artists trying to buy a Democratic primary” through the ads, which included fake Miami Herald headlines unrelated to digital asset policy. A Fairshake spokesperson told Cointelegraph, “The facts are the facts, and, as the Miami Herald stated, the underlying facts in our ad are true,” while also saying he did not comment on reason for the PAC expenditures. The coverage also states that Cointelegraph reached out to Gilbert’s campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

TradingView similarly frames the same Fairshake spending as media opposing a Democratic candidate who did not appear to have taken any prominent position on digital assets before the PAC’s involvement. TradingView adds that the Democratic primary field did not appear to have taken a strong position on digital assets as part of their campaigns before the PAC’s involvement.

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What’s at stake next

Fairshake reported holding a $193 million war chest as of January, and Cointelegraph says it has used affiliates like Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs to support Democratic and Republican candidates for races in the 2026 midterm elections.

Cointelegraph further reports that as of June, the PAC had already poured more than $82 million into primaries and special elections to influence voters through ads.

The same article says both chambers are on recess until September, when the Senate is expected to hold a vote on the CLARITY Act.

Separately, Crypto Briefing says the cryptocurrency-focused political action committee Fairshake invested approximately $2 million in a U.S. House race in Florida, targeting a district where a retired Republican congressman previously voted against key crypto legislation and endorsed the Democratic candidate.

Crypto Briefing also says the retired congressman cast votes against both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, and that Fairshake aims to support candidates who favor clear regulatory frameworks for digital assets, regardless of party affiliation.

Reporting for this sectionCointelegraphCrypto Briefing