U.S. midterms pack major digital assets wallop as Stand With Crypto preps strategy

The terrain of Congress is likely to shift considerably even as the crypto sector continues to chase fundamental legislation.

Make us preferred on Google

What to know:

• Stand With Crypto has endorsed half a dozen U.S. congressional candidates in some of the states expected to be hard-fought in the November midterms.
• The advocacy group also fielded a poll of crypto holders, suggesting they're highly motivated to vote and to pick candidates who support digital assets.

Congressional Republicans are already on the ropes in this year's U.S. midterm elections, and Congress is likely to shift in ways that deeply affect crypto efforts. So, advocacy group Stand With Crypto is gearing up with a slate of candidate endorsements and a new political poll that says neither party has a majority advantage as crypto's best advocate.

Stand With Crypto, established initially by Coinbase as a pro-crypto group populated by retail investors, is known for its political advocacy, including maintaining a grading system for U.S. politicians. It announced endorsements in six "battleground" races on Thursday, backing congressional incumbents — such as Republican Zach Nunn in Iowa and Democrat Don Davis in North Carolina — who have been supportive of the industry.

The organization will deploy efforts to marshal its membership to vote and will also pay for media campaigns. In two other districts, it said it will oppose politicians with records against crypto interests. And more races will be named as the year goes on, the group said.

In these consequential elections, Stand With Crypto commissioned a survey that outlined a sense of crypto-owning voters in battleground states. The results, released Thursday, show that neither the Republican nor Democratic party has locked down a majority who think they're better for the industry, though Republicans are favored 45% to 26%, according to the Impact Research study conducted last month.

The snapshot of potential voters, which had a margin of error of 4.4%, said crypto enthusiasts were highly motivated to cast ballots this year, and 64% of those who hold crypto said they're enthusiastic about supporting pro-crypto candidates.

These midterms could bring significant consequences for the industry. Even if Congress finishes the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before the November general elections, a number of other crypto legislative needs remain — including a tailoring of the U.S. tax system for crypto, and the establishment of a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve that President Donald Trump ordered. But it's very likely that Democrats will be running at least one of the congressional chambers by then, and crypto may not be as high a priority as it's been for Republicans.

Wagers at prediction market firm Kalshi have the chances of Democrats taking the House majority at more than 84%. The odds for the more difficult Democratic path in the Senate is considered closer to a coin flip.

The other House lawmakers endorsed by Stand With Crypto include:

• Representative Susie Lee, a Nevada Democrat;
• Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican;
• Representative Greg Landsman, an Ohio Democrat;
• Representative Rob Bresnahan, a Pennsylvania Republican.

Read More: Stand With Crypto advocacy group sees nearly 700,000 new members ahead of 2026 election

More For You

The law lets authorities use crypto seized during investigations and expands their power to freeze, block or seize funds in a bid to crack down on criminal organizations.

What to know:

• A new law allows Brazilian authorities to use cryptocurrency seized from criminal organizations to fund public security efforts, such as police equipment and training.
• The law enables authorities to provisionally use seized cryptoassets, with a judge's approval, and expands judicial authority to freeze, block or seize cryptoassets during investigations.
• The...

Brazil passes law turning seized crypto into public-security war chest

4 minutes ago

Coinbase, Fannie Mae bring crypto-backed mortgages to homebuyers

20 minutes ago

Everyone's calling bitcoin resilient, may be it's just complacent

44 minutes ago

Crypto slides as oil spike, macro jitters trigger derivatives unwind

1 hour ago

Bitcoin has traded in a tight range for nearly 50 days – but this is not a "bear flag"

1 hour ago

Bitcoin DAT trade is concentrating in Michael Saylor’s Strategy as treasury demand fades elsewhere

2 hours ago

Market structure bill compromise draws wide-ranging reaction from fractured crypto crowd

12 hours ago

Some bitcoin indicators are still going the wrong way, challenging the bullish $70,000 holdout story

5 hours ago

U.S. lawmakers dig into tokenizing securities as Trump ties muddy waters

18 hours ago

Solana bets on AI agents: Foundation says network is becoming core infrastructure for ‘agentic’ internet

19 hours ago

Ethereum Foundation prepares for quantum threat with new cryptography roadmap

20 hours ago

Circle selloff may be overdone as crypto bill weakens Coinbase edge, say analysts

20 hours ago