---
title: "Coinbase-Backed Group Names First Senate Endorsements Ahead of Midterms"
description: "Stand With Crypto backs two Republicans and a Democrat for the Senate, weeks after the Clarity Act died in a 49-50 Senate vote."
author: "rews desk"
published: 2026-09-30T20:31:04Z
modified: 2026-09-30T22:41:12Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/coinbase-backed-group-names-first-senate-endorsements-ahead--c9bf52
language: en
tags: ["politics", "trump", "economy", "crypto", "elections", "us"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Coinbase-Backed Group Names First Senate Endorsements Ahead of Midterms

*Stand With Crypto backs two Republicans and a Democrat for the Senate, weeks after the Clarity Act died in a 49-50 Senate vote.*

By rews desk · September 30, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/coinbase-backed-group-names-first-senate-endorsements-ahead--c9bf52

## In brief

- Stand With Crypto, launched by Coinbase in 2023, named its first Senate endorsements on Wednesday
- It backs Republicans Jon Husted and Ashley Hinson and Democrat Chris Pappas for the Senate
- The move follows the Senate’s 49-50 vote against advancing the Clarity Act
- Fairshake is spending $30 million against Sherrod Brown; crypto-aligned spending is near $200 million for 2026

Stand With Crypto, the advocacy group Coinbase started in 2023, named its first Senate endorsements on Wednesday, backing two Republicans and a Democrat about five weeks before the midterm elections.

In Ohio, the group is behind Senator Jon Husted, a Republican, who faces former Senator Sherrod Brown, the onetime chairman of the Banking Committee and a longtime crypto skeptic. It also endorsed Representative Ashley Hinson, a Republican running for the Senate in Iowa, and Representative Chris Pappas, a New Hampshire Democrat running against former Senator John Sununu. The group said it picks candidates on their crypto policy positions “regardless of party.”

The slate arrives weeks after the Senate voted 49 to 50 against advancing the Clarity Act, the industry’s market structure bill, with Democrats voting as a bloc over concerns about President Trump’s crypto dealings. Stand With Crypto treated that defeat as a warning, saying at the time that senators’ votes would go on its public scorecard and that its supporters would judge lawmakers at the ballot box.

Mason Lynaugh, the group’s executive director, has said its more than three million advocates are now fully focused on electing pro-crypto candidates.

On the House side, the group endorsed Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, and Shomari Figures, an Alabama Democrat, and said it would step up advertising in six House races. In August it backed 32 House incumbents it called “proven digital asset policy champions.”

The endorsements land in a flood of crypto political money. Unlike super PACs, Stand With Crypto makes no direct campaign contributions; it works on voter mobilization and grades candidates through its Voter Hub. But candidates it rates well tend to draw industry PAC money anyway. The Fairshake super PAC recently began a $30 million spending campaign against Mr. Brown, and crypto-aligned political spending has come to roughly $200 million combined for the 2026 cycle.

The Husted endorsement shows what is on the line. Mr. Brown’s return to Washington would hand crypto skeptics a powerful voice on the Senate Banking Committee, which makes Ohio the clearest test yet of whether the industry’s electoral machine can move votes.

The general election is Nov. 3.