elections

According to the Financial Times, an analysis of campaign finance records shows that the cryptocurrency and AI industries have raised approximately $250 million over the past year to support congressional candidates in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections in November.A16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz donated a total of $25 million in February to the pro-AI Super PAC "Leading The Future." The organization has raised about $75 million from billionaires, including the two mentioned above and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman; when including "dark money" non-profits that do not disclose their donors, that figure rises to $140 million. The largest Super PAC in the crypto industry, Fairshake, has raised over $134 million on its own.In January, Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street firm previously led by current U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and now managed by his son Brandon, which has a partnership with Tether, donated $10 million to the pro-crypto Super PAC Fellowship; the parent company of the major crypto platform, Anchor Labs, also added a $1 million donation to Fellowship PAC. Elon Musk donated $1.6 million to his America PAC in March, significantly reducing his involvement compared to 2024, when he invested over $250 million across various PACs.Anthropic has pledged $20 million to the non-profit Public First Action, which has redirected some of the funds to a Super PAC to influence the 2026 elections. The company holds a relatively unique position in the industry, explicitly calling for the establishment of strict federal AI safety regulations, which diverges from the majority of participants in the AI industry.

According to The Hill, the White House seems eager to push for a resolution to the dispute between the banking industry and the cryptocurrency sector, a dispute that has hindered Senate negotiations on the legislation since the beginning of this year. Key officials both inside and outside the U.S. government—from Treasury Secretary Scott Bansen to White House crypto advisor Patrick Witte, and former head of AI and crypto affairs David Sacks—have recently called for the passage of the bill.At the same time, the Council of Economic Advisers released a report that countered the relevant concerns of the banking industry. However, it is still unclear whether the White House's push is sufficient to overcome the issues plaguing the bill, which are not limited to the narrow industry disputes that have dominated discussions over the past three months. Christopher Neuber, a senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, stated in an interview, "From a timing perspective, their judgment is reasonable—if Congress has the opportunity to push the market structure bill through, now is that opportunity."

According to The Block, Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs jointly funded the newly established political action committee "Blockchain Leadership Fund," marking Anchorage Digital's first involvement in PAC financing.The fund plans to support candidates who promote digital asset and blockchain policies ahead of the midterm elections and actively engage in voter education. Currently, the U.S. Congress's cryptocurrency legislative process is stalled, with the Senate Banking Committee still at odds with the banking industry over stablecoin reward regulation issues. Meanwhile, the crypto advocacy organization Stand With Crypto has also launched a legislator digital asset position scoring system to continue building momentum for the industry ahead of the 2026 elections.

According to a report by Jinshi, the latest NBC poll shows that Trump's support among registered voters has decreased by 3 percentage points from 47% in March 2025 to 44%, with disapproval rising to 54%. The average of Decision Desk HQ polls also shows similar results: 43.1% approval and 54.4% disapproval.Investinglive analyst Adam Button stated that the key for the market lies in the situation of the midterm elections. Trump himself has pointed out this risk, noting that historical patterns show that the party in the White House typically faces setbacks in midterm elections. If the Republican Party loses seats in Congress, it will reshape the legislative landscape regarding tax policy, tariffs, and deregulation, while current stock valuations have to some extent already priced in expectations for these policies.The big question ahead is whether Trump will begin to face internal pressure to quickly end the war. Republicans have certainly acknowledged that they will lose the House of Representatives, and as the Middle Eastern war diminishes some of their voter base, the control of the Senate becomes increasingly uncertain.

Data shows that lobbying groups related to the cryptocurrency industry have invested approximately $271 million to influence the 2026 U.S. elections, mainly for political activities such as advertising. Among them, the super PAC FairShake is one of the main sources of funding, with donors including Coinbase, Ripple, Uniswap Labs, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.The data also indicates that about 40% of the related funds are directed towards Republican candidates, about 3% towards Democratic candidates, and the remainder supports independent candidates. Industry insiders say that as the 2026 U.S. midterm elections approach, lobbying activities in the cryptocurrency industry are expected to continue to increase.

According to Decrypt, the National Anti-Corruption Center of Moldova (CNA) has disclosed a plan to influence the country's parliamentary elections in 2025 using cryptocurrency, involving an amount of $107 million.CNA Director Alexandr Pinzari stated that the plan involved "complex trading operations" through non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, transferring virtual assets to intermediaries in Moldova, who would then convert them into cash and distribute them to local activists for bribing voters, promoting specific candidates, and mobilizing rally participants. The source of the funds can be traced back to two centralized cryptocurrency platforms in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.Blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs linked the activity to the "Russia-backed foreign influence operation InfoLider" and confirmed that the Kyrgyzstan cryptocurrency exchange TokenSpot is one of the sources of the transactions. TRM Labs had previously identified TokenSpot as a potential front company for the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, both of which are closely related to the "Kremlin-backed sanctions evasion ecosystem."

The Chair of the UK's National Security Council, Matt Western, has called for an urgent temporary ban on political donations in cryptocurrency to prevent foreign interference in UK elections. Matt Western stated that such donations need to be suspended until the risks associated with cryptocurrency donations (including thorough checks on the sources of funds) are addressed.The committee also called for a review of sentencing for electoral offenses, believing that deterrence needs to be strengthened. Western has written to the Cabinet Minister responsible for election finance, Steve Reed, requesting immediate action—previously, the new election bill did not include provisions to restrict cryptocurrency donations.Earlier this year, the Reform UK party became the first to express acceptance of digital currency donations, reportedly receiving its first registrable cryptocurrency donations and establishing a dedicated crypto portal. In his letter, Western expressed concern that, given the deteriorating global security environment, the intent of foreign interference in UK political finance may intensify before the next election.

According to The Hill, the cryptocurrency industry is ramping up its spending in preparation for the upcoming U.S. midterm elections after achieving several key victories and accumulating significant funds in 2024.The industry's main super PAC network, Fairshake, has over $193 million in cash on hand as of early 2026 and has announced several targets for this election cycle: including supporting Congressman Barry Moore (Republican-Alabama) in the Alabama Senate race, and pushing to oust Congressman Al Green (Democrat-Texas) in the House elections. After making substantial investments in the last U.S. elections and claiming victories in at least two high-profile campaigns, this has secured some early wins for the industry in Congress and significantly elevated the cryptocurrency sector's standing in Washington.The impact of the cryptocurrency industry in 2024 was most pronounced, as it invested tens of millions of dollars in multiple primaries and competitive elections. According to 2024 campaign finance filings, the Fairshake super PAC network, which includes three affiliated groups, spent nearly $180 million in the last cycle.

According to CoinDesk, Citi's analysis indicates that Bitcoin is approaching a key price support level ahead of the U.S. elections.The report states that after several weeks of decline, the price of Bitcoin has fallen below the bank's estimated average entry cost of approximately $81,600 for the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF and is nearing the critical level of about $70,000 prior to last year's election.The report points out that the main new source of demand supporting the market—ETF inflows—has significantly slowed, while the futures market continues to see long positions being liquidated. Analysts note that the cryptocurrency market exhibits volatility similar to that of precious metals but has failed to follow the recent safe-haven rally in gold, highlighting that its price is still primarily influenced by liquidity conditions and risk sentiment rather than safe-haven demand.The report believes that regulatory progress remains a key potential catalyst, but the advancement of the U.S. digital asset market structure bill has been slow and uneven, leading to diminished expectations. The report also mentions macro risks, including concerns about the Federal Reserve's balance sheet contraction, which historically puts pressure on crypto assets by reducing liquidity in the banking system.

According to a report by the Financial Times, cited by Jin Shi, U.S. President Trump and his allies have raised a record $429 million in political donations over the past year, with tech billionaires and businesses seeking policy changes opening their wallets to accumulate funds ahead of the midterm elections. Analysis shows that the single political action committee (PAC) Maga Inc, controlled by Trump's allies, currently holds $304 million in funds—this amount exceeds the reserves of any political action committee in previous midterm election years and is tens of millions of dollars more than the funds available to the Democratic Party's related camps.The largest disclosed single donation to Maga Inc came from the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, with venture capital giants A16Z founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donating $3 million to "Maga Inc" last year. OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman donated $12.5 million to the committee last December, with his wife Anna adding another $12.5 million.

According to Cointelegraph, Grow California, co-founded by Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Bitcoin supporter and venture capitalist Tim Draper, has disclosed that it has received approximately $40 million in donation commitments for an independent expenditure committee and related nonprofit entities to combat California's wealth tax and union power. Chris Larsen is expected to contribute up to $30 million of his own funds over multiple election cycles.Industry observers note that crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) are gearing up for the 2026 U.S. midterm elections to expand the industry's influence. Fairshake disclosed on Wednesday that its cash reserves have reached $193 million, funded by crypto institutions such as Ripple Labs, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coinbase.

According to market news, the cryptocurrency political action committee Fairshake, supported by Coinbase, a16z, and Ripple, announced that it has reserved over $193 million in funding for the midterm elections in November 2026.The funding includes a $25 million donation from Coinbase in 2025, as well as recent donations of $25 million and $24 million from Ripple and a16z, respectively. Fairshake stated that as the midterm elections approach, it will continue to oppose politicians with anti-crypto policies and support leaders who advocate for the crypto industry. The organization played a key role during last year's election season, investing tens of millions of dollars to support pro-crypto candidates.

As the Ugandan government cut off nationwide internet access during the presidential elections, the encrypted communication app Bitchat became one of the most downloaded apps locally. The Uganda Communications Commission confirmed that the internet shutdown took effect at 6 PM local time on Tuesday and will continue throughout the election period.Reports indicate that Bitchat relies on Bluetooth Mesh networks to enable encrypted communication without the internet, and it has simultaneously topped the download charts on both the Apple App Store and Google Play in Uganda. Meanwhile, several VPN apps also ranked high in downloads, indicating a significant increase in local demand for information access ahead of the elections.The Ugandan government stated that the internet shutdown aims to prevent the spread of false information during the elections, but opponents argue that this move could restrict the flow of election-related information. The executive director of the Uganda Communications Commission had previously stated that there would be no internet shutdown, but ultimately, the measures were implemented. As of early January, it has been disclosed that over 400,000 users in Uganda have downloaded Bitchat.This marks the third consecutive time Uganda has implemented a nationwide internet shutdown during presidential elections. Similar actions occurred during the elections in 2016 and 2021. Reports also mention that Bitchat has been widely used in various countries under conditions of internet restrictions or sudden disasters in recent years, gradually becoming an alternative communication tool in offline environments.

Caixin released the "2026 New Year Special Review and Outlook," which pointed out that in 2025, the "Trump Deal" made waves, with gold prices and virtual currencies competing for attention. In March, an executive order was signed to incorporate approximately 210,000 bitcoins held by the federal government into the national strategic reserve. Various transactions based on stablecoins and digital currencies were extensively implemented in 2025, and listed companies transformed into treasury companies specifically hoarding digital currencies, leading to speculation.However, the seizure of $15 billion in bitcoins by the U.S. from the Chen Zhi telecommunications fraud group raised concerns about transaction security, and by the end of the year, bitcoin had fallen from its historical highs. As we move into 2026, when Trump begins preparing for the midterm elections in November, it will be crucial to observe which areas his policies will adjust in response to feedback and how this will affect the performance of various asset classes, becoming a key theme to watch in 2026.

JD Vance talked about the possibility of running for president in 2028 during an interview with Fox News: "We will win the midterm elections. We will do everything we can to win the midterm elections. After that, I will sit down with the President of the United States to discuss this matter."

ChainCatcher news, TD Cowen analysts stated in a recent report that the U.S. Senate is making slow progress in advancing cryptocurrency market structure legislation, and the passage of the bill may be delayed until after the midterm elections.The report pointed out that there are fundamental disagreements between Democrats and Republicans regarding the division of regulatory authority and the restrictions on DeFi, which have become the main obstacles to the current review. Among them, the provision proposed by Democrats to prohibit government officials from holding crypto assets is seen as a sensitive issue, involving controversies over the Trump family's profits through projects like World Liberty Financial. TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg stated that senators are not unable to take action within the next 12 months, but from a political consideration and limited session perspective, "the reasons for their delay far outweigh the reasons for swift advancement."

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, U.S. Vice President Vance hopes that Musk will rejoin the MAGA camp before the midterm elections.