#citationneedednewsletter

Crypto and AI super PACs spent $250 million on the midterms. In the races where their money could actually make a difference, nearly two-thirds of it backed candidates who lost. You wouldn’t know it from what the industries are saying. New issue: https://www.citationneeded.news/crypto-ai-lost-the-midterms/ #crypto #cryptocurrency #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

Fairshake is touting a 92% win rate. But this is only because it bet on 74 nearly guaranteed wins — out of the 18 competitive seats Fairshake spent in, its candidate won just 8. About half of its $155 million in spending backed losers. The biggest loss was crypto’s unsuccessful $64 million in spending to keep Sherrod Brown out of the Senate. Brown may now chair the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC: the regulator crypto has spent years trying to put in charge of itself. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

Maybe the crypto PACs will chalk up their losses to the Democratic wave. But they made little effort to hedge against it — 3/4 of crypto’s spending backed Republicans, and most Democratic spending was in primaries. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

OpenAI- and a16z-linked Leading the Future spent $8.2M defeating “AI safety” candidate Alex Bores in NY-12, only for him to lose to a candidate with a similar platform. Backlash from AI’s intervention in that race was likely why they backed off in the general election. On the other side was the Anthropic-linked “AI safety” Public First PAC network, which claimed a “crushing blow” to the “anti-regulation” PACs. But of the $29.2 million they spent, only about $10.9 million ended up helping winning candidates (37%). #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

Despite the crypto industry’s public claims of widespread public support, their admakers clearly understand that being “pro-crypto” is not a winning message. Out of the 57 ads I tracked from crypto super PACs, only 3 mentioned crypto (obliquely). AI-focused super PACs were more willing to mention their industry, but not in a good way. Most mentions came from “AI safety” PACs warning about the harms of AI, or from Leading the Future bashing Alex Bores for his history in the tech sector. https://influence.citationneeded.news/2026/analysis/ads/library #crypto #cryptocurrency #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

Most crypto and AI ads avoided mentioning their industries at all, instead telling voters what they thought they’d want to hear. One “AI safety” PAC network ran “remove the illegals, seal the border” ads for a Republican and “overhaul ICE” ads for a Democrat a few hours away. #crypto #cryptocurrency #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

AI and crypto both declared victory, despite their objectively poor performance. Both have vowed to spend heavily in 2028, and are still hoping to intimidate lawmakers with the dominance they failed to demonstrate. But before then, AI and crypto will both have to try to backtrack on their strong rightward turn over the past few years, lobbying a Democratic Congress. More on that pivot coming soon. #crypto #cryptocurrency #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #USpolitics #USpol #CitationNeededNewsletter

Crypto- and AI-focused super PACs have poured nearly $250 million into this year’s elections. Tonight we find out what it bought. Here’s my guide to the races to watch, where the money went, and which results could embarrass the industry: https://www.citationneeded.news/2026-election-guide/ #crypto #cryptocurrency #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #USpol #USpolitics #citationNeededNewsletter

Newsletter: A Trump crypto adviser’s firm took millions from Tether while he shaped stablecoin rules in their favor, a Senate probe targets Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s not-so-former firm, and crypto’s biggest super PAC plays it safe. https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-111/ #crypo #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Newsletter: Regulators race to reassure the crypto industry as the its flagship Clarity Act legislation collapses, SBF tries his luck with the Supreme Court, and crypto PACs unleash $30 million against Sherrod Brown. https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-110/ #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Newsletter: The supposedly “unprecedented” ethics restrictions in the industry-written Clarity Act exempt Trump’s crypto businesses and leave enforcement to his loyalists. Senators must vote no on cloture tomorrow. https://www.citationneeded.news/clarity-act-ethics-charade/ #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #ClarityAct #CitationNeededNewsletter

Though Republicans are preemptively pinning blame on Democrats if the crypto bill fails to pass, Democrats are so far holding out for meaningful ethics language, and have suggested that ethics is not their only complaint with the draft legislation. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

And even Republicans have expressed concerns with the bill, revisiting the issue of stablecoin yield that negotiators thought they had resolved. The bill needs sixty votes to pass, which would require all Republicans and seven Democrats to sign on. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

If the Senate doesn’t pass Clarity by the start of recess on August 7, its chances become very slim. Future attempts at crypto legislation would not likely be nearly this friendly to the industry — a huge blow after crypto spent $200M+ expecting they could dictate the bill. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Also in this issue: Prediction markets continue to be a crypto-esque wild west, with a recent WSJ report exposing the Trump-linked Polymarket’s false advertising. Influencers paid by Polymarket are boasting about manipulating bets. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #Polymarket #CitationNeededNewsletter

The Department of Justice is reportedly planning to drop charges against Matthew Goettsche, who ran a crypto Ponzi scheme that bilked $722 million from investors he described as “dumb” and “sheep”, after he hired Trump-linked lawyers to lobby for legal relief. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted final approval to USDC stablecoin issuer Circle to operate as a national trust bank. Comptroller Jonathan Gould previously represented Circle as a client when he was a partner at Jones Day. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Newsletter: The Clarity Act cryptocurrency market structure bill may well be dead, as the crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift. https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-107/ #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Though Republicans and the crypto industry presented the latest draft crypto bill as a viable option after months of disagreements, even the crypto-friendliest Democrats have are opposing its toothless ethics provision that would not meaningfully impact the President’s crypto grift. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Ethics enforcement would be left to a DOJ that has shown no appetite for reining in Trump’s corruption. The provision would expire in 2029, and explicitly bars retroactive enforcement against Trump. Any fine is capped at $500k: less than 0.04% of what the President brought in from crypto last year. #crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter