An affiliate of the cryptocurrency-aligned political action committee (PAC) Fairshake is attempting to influence voters in a primary race for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, with about $1 million in media on the line.In filings with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of Tuesday, the Protect Progress PAC had spent more than $986,000 on ads supportive of Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar and opposing his challenger, Donavan McKinney. The reported expenditures came two weeks before the Democratic candidates were set to face off in an Aug. 4 primary to determine who will stand in the November general election.Source: FECThe media spending echoed Protect Progress’ moves from 2024, when the PAC spent about $1 million supporting Thanedar. That year, he defeated Democratic primary candidates with 54.9% of the vote, and Republican and other party challengers in the November election with 68.6%. Fairshake and its affiliates reported having $191 million in their war chest to potentially influence voters in key elections. The PACs are just a few of many aligned with the industry attempting to send what they consider “pro-crypto” candidates to the next US Congress. Others included Fellowship, backed by Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital, and the Blockchain Leadership Fund, a hybrid PAC backed by Anchorage and Chainlink Labs.Related: Crypto-backed candidates notch wins in three US state primariesMcKinney did not run against Thanedar in 2024, nor had he appeared to have made any significant public statement directly supporting or opposing digital assets. Thanedar, in contrast, voted for many crypto-related bills while serving in the House of Representatives, including the CLARITY Act, GENIUS Act and Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act. He also reportedly lost more than $600,000 in the second quarter of 2026 after investing $3.7 million of campaign funds into crypto companies.“Shri has voted for every bill [Donald] Trump and the crypto lobby have brought to Congress,” said McKinney in a Tuesday statement on the PAC spending, adding:“The crypto lobby is paying my opponent back for helping Trump make over $1 billion since taking office.” PAC’s sights set on Washington as well In addition to Protect Progress’ activity in Michigan, the PAC spent more than $100,000 on media supporting Representative Greg Stanton’s reelection bid in Arizona. Like Thanedar, Stanton voted in favor of CLARITY and GENIUS in the House. He won his primary on Tuesday for Arizona’s 4th congressional district with 65% of the vote.The state of Washington’s party primaries, also scheduled for Aug. 4, could see some influence from a Fairshake affiliate. According to FEC filings, the Defend American Jobs PAC spent more than $65,000 on media to support Amanda McKinney, a Republican running for Washington’s 4th district who has made at least one public statement supporting crypto. Representative Dan Newhouse announced in 2025 that he would not pursue reelection in the district.Magazine: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?

Senate Republicans have released the proposed text for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, including language on ethics that would bar all US federal officials — including President Donald Trump — from issuing or sponsoring any digital asset.In the 616-page text of the CLARITY Act made public on Wednesday, US lawmakers included language that the White House described as the “most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history.“ The bill said all public officials, employees and their spouses would be barred from issuing or sponsoring digital assets and crypto platforms would similarly be blocked from listing assets issued or sponsored by federal officials.Text of CLARITY Act released on Wednesday. Source: Cynthia LummisAccording to Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the bill’s chief advocates, the ethics provisions would also apply to Trump, who faces significant pushback from lawmakers over earning more than $1.4 billion in 2025 from his crypto ventures. The ban on public officials would only be temporary, expiring on Jan. 20, 2029 — the day Trump’s second term as president will end. The US Attorney General will largely be responsible for enforcing the ban rather than state authorities. As of Wednesday, Trump’s former personal attorney and acting AG Todd Blanche was awaiting a Senate confirmation vote to head the Justice Department.“I wouldn’t support the bill if that’s the language,” said Senator Angela Alsobrooks in a Tuesday statement to Politico on having the DoJ behind enforcement of ethics. “But we’ll keep working from that floor to reach an agreement that holds us all accountable.”The CLARITY Act, which awaits a potential vote in the Senate before returning to the House of Representatives and possibly Trump’s desk, still needs support from several Democratic lawmakers to meet a 60-vote threshold. Many Democrats have explicitly said that they will not vote for any bill without strong ethics language to address what some have called the president’s “crypto corruption.”Will enough Democrats sign onto the bill?Notably, CLARITY’s ethics provisions did not appear to include children of public officials in its temporary ban. All three of Trump’s sons are co-founders of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto business, and two launched a Bitcoin (BTC) mining company, American Bitcoin.“This bill applies one ethics standard to everyone, including the President of the United States, and backs it up with real enforcement, real penalties, and a Department of Justice mandate to act,” said Lummis on behalf of the US Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on digital assets. “This is not talk.”Related: Nigerian president signs order on approach to crypto regulation, taxesSenate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly plans to put CLARITY up for a vote on the Senate floor sometime next week regardless of whether it has enough support from Democrats to pass. The chamber only has a few weeks to hold a vote before it breaks for state work periods.“[E]thics is far from the only thing at stake,“ said Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith in reaction to the CLARITY text. “The Senate has added a full disclosure regime, an entire illicit finance section, and improved spot market regulation […] The Senate has a real chance to pass durable, bipartisan market structure legislation.“Magazine: The digital euro: Surveillance money, or a better alternative to cash?

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SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said crypto vaults and onchain lending products may fall under US securities laws, urging developers to assess whether products that actively manage user assets require regulatory compliance.In a statement published Wednesday, Peirce said crypto vaults and lending strategies that involve discretionary decisions, including allocating assets, selecting yield-generating activities, setting lending terms and determining liquidation thresholds, may fall within the scope of federal securities laws depending on their structure and operation.She said some vaults could be treated as securities offerings or investment companies, while parties managing vault allocations or lending parameters could also trigger investment adviser requirements. Peirce said that some onchain loans may also qualify as securities depending on how they are structured, distributed and used. “Moving activities that fall within the scope of the federal securities laws onchain, as a general matter, does not take those activities outside the scope of the laws the Commission administers,” Peirce said.Peirce urged developers and operators to consult the SEC if their products may fall within its jurisdiction and invited feedback on how existing rules could better accommodate onchain finance.Related: SEC sues Mining Automatic and founder over alleged $22M crypto mining schemeCrypto vaults grow as regulators scrutinize onchain yield productsCrypto vaults pool user assets into onchain strategies designed to generate yield through lending markets, staking or liquidity pools. Their use has expanded this year as companies package sophisticated DeFi strategies into products aimed at both retail and institutional investors.In April, Sentora opened its Smart Yield platform to the public, allowing users to compare and access DeFi vaults based on strategy, yield and risk metrics. Earlier, Wallet in Telegram launched self-custodial Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and USDT (USDT) vaults that provide automated yield generation without requiring users to transfer assets to a centralized custodian.Kraken followed in May with a Bitcoin vault offering up to 2.5% variable APY by deploying wrapped Bitcoin across decentralized lending protocols including Aave and Morpho. Rewards are paid in Bitcoin and fluctuate based on borrowing demand in the underlying markets.The products have also exposed users to technical risks. In December, decentralized finance protocol Yearn disclosed a roughly $9 million exploit affecting its legacy yETH yield vault, though the protocol said its V2 and V3 vaults were not effected. If crypto vaults were to fall under federal securities laws, their operators could be required to register with the SEC or qualify for exemptions while complying with disclosure and other regulatory requirements.Source: Yearnfi Magazine: The digital euro: Surveillance money, or a better alternative to cash?