The Coinbase-backed group's first Senate endorsements—Republicans Jon Husted and Ashley Hinson and Democrat Chris Pappas—come two weeks after the Clarity Act's collapse, as the industry's fight shifts to the campaign trail.
Stand With Crypto, the advocacy group Coinbase launched in 2023, unveiled a bipartisan slate of Senate and House endorsements Wednesday, sharpening its electoral push roughly a month before November's midterms and two weeks after the Clarity Act collapsed in the Senate.
The group's first Senate endorsements span three races. In Ohio, it is backing Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who faces former Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, a longtime crypto skeptic.
It also endorsed Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, running for a Senate seat in Iowa, and Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, running in New Hampshire against former GOP Sen. John Sununu. The group said it picks candidates based on their crypto policy positions "regardless of party."
On the House side, the endorsements include Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Alabama Democrat Shomari Figures, and the group said it would ramp up advertising in six House campaigns. It builds on an earlier round in August, when Stand With Crypto endorsed 32 House incumbents it called "proven digital asset policy champions."
The timing is pointed, given the recent Clarity Act fallout and the ensuing not-so-subtle threats the lobbying group directed at lawmakers who voted against it.
The Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a 49-50 vote last month, with Democrats voting as a bloc amid concerns over President Donald Trump's crypto dealings. Stand With Crypto framed that defeat as a turning point, warning at the time that senators' votes would be added to its public scorecard and that its supporters would judge lawmakers at the ballot box.