According to BlockBeats on June 21, Forbes columnist and crypto law and policy expert Tonya M. Evans said crypto industry political donations are moving into Democratic primaries at an unprecedented scale as the 2026 US primary season heats up. The controversy centers on how crypto super PAC money is being deployed in Black districts: industry-backed funds support pro-crypto candidates, while campaign advertising presented to voters focuses on everyday political and economic issues rather than cryptocurrency.
Fairshake-linked spending backs Adrian Boafo
Evans pointed to the Fairshake network, funded by Coinbase, Ripple and a16z, and its Democratic branch, Protect Progress. Protect Progress has spent more than $4.9 million supporting Maryland House candidate Adrian Boafo. In Maryland’s majority-Black Fifth District, the ads highlighted limits on ICE enforcement, opposition to Trump and the cost of living, while making no mention of cryptocurrency.
Former MSNBC host Joy Reid described the tactic on her program as “Blackwashing.” In her framing, an industry uses progressive messaging to move money into Black districts, support Black candidates, and run ads centered on kitchen-table issues while deliberately leaving out the industry identity of the donors behind the spending. Evans discussed the pattern as part of the broader entry of crypto political money into Democratic primary contests.
Texas and Georgia cases follow the same model
The Maryland race was not presented as an isolated example. Evans said the same crypto PAC network spent more than $5 million in Texas to help 38-year-old Christian Menefee defeat 78-year-old anti-crypto veteran Al Green. In Georgia, the network spent about $4 million to help Jasmine Clark win an open primary. Across those races, the structure was consistent: pro-crypto candidates, industry-funded support, ads focused on daily-life issues, and no reference to crypto.
Evans stressed that the dividing line for crypto money is not race, but whether a politician is a “friend or critic.” She noted that crypto super PACs have also spent heavily to defeat Black Democratic politicians who opposed crypto. The deeper legislative battlefield involves the US Senate’s Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, known as the CLARITY Act. The bill passed the Senate Banking Committee by a 15-9 vote on May 14 and was placed on the legislative calendar on June 1 to await a full Senate vote. Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks, described as a key figure in advancing the bill out of committee, has also publicly endorsed Boafo.