Crypto PACs spend $4.9M on Menefee, $2.8M against Al Green – What next?
With CLARITY Act yet to become a law, the crypto industry is playing the long game with U.S. elections.
The crypto industry is in a war mode against any anti-industry aspirant in the U.S primaries and upcoming November elections. And Texas is the latest playground.
According to the latest filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Protect Progress spent $4.9 million to support Christian Menefee in the Democratic primaries for Texas’ 18th Congressional District elections.
Notably, the PAC (Political Action Committee) has also spent +$2.8 million against incumbent Al Green, on what analysts call the most expensive primaries in Texas.
According to Stand With Crypto (SWC), a Coinbase-backed lobby, Al Green is rated as “strongly against crypto.” He voted against five pro-crypto bills, including the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act.
Can AI Green survive the crypto industry’s opposition?
Well, Green hasn’t shied away from publicly criticizing the industry’s financial influence in Congress. In mid-May, he slammed the crypto PACs and said,
I am unbought by crypto cash, unbought by the millions of dollars that the crypto industry spends to elect people to Congress so that they can have influence over legislation.
On the contrary, Menefee seems to have not only won the crypto industry’s backing but has a fair lead in the race if prediction markets are to be believed. SWC rates him as “strongly supports crypto.”
As per the prediction platform Kalshi, Menefee was primed to win the race with a 88% chance as of writing.
Protect Progress is part of a broader trend among crypto PACs such as Fellowship and Fairshake. These groups aggressively backed pro-crypto candidates while opposing anti-industry aspirants.
In fact, Protect Progress claimed a victory on 19th May after Jasmine Clark won Georgia’s 13th District primary.
So far in 2026, crypto PACs have spent nearly $68 million. That remains far below the almost $300 million spent during the 2024 U.S. elections.
The expenditure is likely to increase ahead of the November elections, with Democrats increasingly being targeted by certain crypto PACs. This is not surprising, given that the market expects Democrats to control the House after November.
And since the CLARITY Act has not been passed into law, the crypto industry appears to be playing the long game to get the bill across the finish line. Especially if President Donald Trump loses control of Congress.
Final Summary
- Protect Progress has spent nearly $5 million to back pro-crypto Christian Menefee against incumbent Al Green in the Texas Democratic primary run-off.
- Prediction market placed a 88% chance that Menefee would win the primaries.
