A political action committee affiliated with Fairshake, funded primarily by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, has spent more than $2 million on advertisements opposing Democratic candidate Oliver Gilbert in Florida’s 24th congressional district primary.
FEC records as of Tuesday show the Protect Progress PAC allocated the funds to media opposing Gilbert, who had not taken a prominent stance on digital assets before the ads aired. The spending comes as no Democratic primary candidate had highlighted crypto policy as a central campaign issue prior to the PAC’s involvement.
Representative Frederica Wilson, who currently holds the seat Gilbert is contesting, endorsed him at a June 22 event. Wilson has opposed key digital asset legislation, including the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act and the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Shevrin Jones, a Florida state senator and rival candidate in the primary, has completed a questionnaire with Stand With Crypto, earning a “strongly supports” rating from the advocacy group.
Gilbert accused the PAC of being backed by “Trump’s tech billionaire buddies” and criticized the ads for including misleading Miami Herald-style headlines unrelated to digital asset policy. Fairshake and Gilbert’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fairshake reported a $193 million war chest as of January, deployed through affiliates like Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs to influence races ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. By June, the PAC had already spent over $82 million on primaries and special elections via advertising. Protect Progress has also allocated more than $150,000 in media supporting Lois Frankel’s re-election in Florida’s 23rd district.
Defend American Jobs, another Fairshake affiliate, reported $1.5 million in ad spending supporting Republican candidates, including Nick Begich in Alaska’s at-large district, Sydney Gruters in Florida’s 16th district, and Harriet Hageman in Wyoming’s Senate race. Tuesday’s primaries in Alaska, California, Florida, and Wyoming will determine party control in the 2027 Congress.
Both chambers of Congress are currently recessed until September, when the Senate is expected to vote on the CLARITY Act.
