From Cointelegraph · By Helen Partz
US voters head to the polls in midterm elections on Tuesday that could shift control of Congress and shape the future of cryptocurrency regulation.
Crypto industry groups have spent roughly $176 million across more than 100 races this election cycle, according to an Oct. 27 Reuters report.
Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz are among the main financiers of the Fairshake political network.
The results could reshape the prospects for the stalled CLARITY Act and determine which lawmakers lead committees overseeing the industry.
Democrats seek control of Congress
Republicans enter Tuesday’s midterms controlling both chambers of Congress, with 219 seats in the House of Representatives and 53 in the Senate, according to the Blockchain Association’s election dashboard.
Democrats are seeking to overturn those majorities, with prediction markets favoring the party to win the House and Senate, according to Kalshi data at the time of publishing.
Source: Blockchain Association
Voters will decide all 435 House seats and 35 Senate races, determining which party controls Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Democratic control could bring more congressional scrutiny of Trump-linked crypto businesses and regulators’ decisions. Control of the Senate would also affect confirmation of future presidential nominees to regulatory posts.
Ohio, Nebraska and Texas draw crypto attention
Ohio’s Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown is a major test of crypto’s political influence. Industry groups have reportedly spent more than $50 million opposing Brown, a longtime crypto critic who could return to a senior Senate committee role.
In Nebraska, Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts faces independent Dan Osborn. Ricketts, a Senate Banking Committee member who has supported crypto-friendly legislation, has benefited from nearly $11 million in spending by Fairshake, according to the Washington Examiner.
Texas is another race to watch, with Republican Ken Paxton facing Democrat James Talarico in a closely contested Senate election. As Cointelegraph previously reported, the Winklevoss-backed Digital Freedom Fund has spent money supporting Paxton.
CLARITY Act faces challenges regardless of who wins
A shift in congressional control could delay the CLARITY Act, although the crypto market structure bill has already struggled under Republican leadership.
The legislation would divide oversight of crypto markets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as establish rules for intermediaries. The Senate failed to advance it in a 49–50 procedural vote on Sept. 15, short of the 60 votes required.