A Fairshake-affiliated political action committee has spent more than $2 million on media opposing Democratic candidate Oliver Gilbert in Florida’s 24th congressional district, according to Federal Election Commission records cited by Cointelegraph.
The PAC, Protect Progress, is tied to Fairshake, which is funded primarily by Coinbase and Ripple Labs. Cointelegraph reported that before the ads were released, none of the candidates in the Democratic primary appeared to have taken a prominent position on digital assets as part of their campaigns.
Seat held by lawmaker who opposed CLARITY and GENIUS
Gilbert is running for the seat currently held by Representative Frederica Wilson. While serving in Congress, Wilson voted against the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, and the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act. She later endorsed Gilbert at a June 22 event.
Another Democratic candidate in the race, Florida state senator Shevrin Jones, completed a questionnaire with Stand With Crypto and received a “strongly supports” rating from the advocacy group. An early August poll showed Jones ahead of Gilbert.
Gilbert criticizes ad campaign
Gilbert reportedly said “Trump’s tech billionaire buddies” were behind what he called “crypto con artists trying to buy a Democratic primary.” The ads, according to the report, used fake Miami Herald headlines that were unrelated to digital asset policy.
Cointelegraph said it contacted Gilbert’s campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
A Fairshake spokesperson told Cointelegraph: 「The facts are the facts, and, as the Miami Herald stated, the underlying facts in our ad are true.」 The spokesperson did not comment on the reason for the PAC spending.
Fairshake’s broader 2026 spending push
Fairshake reported a $193 million war chest as of January. The group has been using affiliates including Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs to back Democratic and Republican candidates, respectively, in races tied to the 2026 midterm elections.
As of June, the PAC had already spent more than $82 million in primaries and special elections through advertising aimed at influencing voters.
Primary contests across several states
On Tuesday, voters in Alaska, California, Florida and Wyoming were set to decide which congressional candidates would advance to the general election in November.
Protect Progress also spent more than $150,000 on media supporting the reelection of Lois Frankel in Florida’s 23rd district. Defend American Jobs reported a combined $1.5 million in ads supporting Representative Nick Begich in Alaska’s at-large congressional district, Republican candidate Sydney Gruters in Florida’s 16th district and Representative Harriet Hageman for one of Wyoming’s US Senate seats.
Those 2026 primary races are expected to shape whether Democrats retake control of the US House of Representatives and Senate when the next session of Congress begins in January 2027, or whether Republicans keep their majority.
Both chambers are in recess until September, when the Senate is expected to hold a vote on the CLARITY Act.