The US Senate races the crypto industry will be watching tonight 

Crypto stances vary among candidates vying for Senate seats in Utah, Michigan and Arizona

article-image

US Senator candidate Kari Lake | gageskidmore/"Kari Lake" (CC license)

share


This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Happy Election Day to our US readers!

Yesterday we wrote about one close race in the Senate that has caught the attention of big crypto donors. Here are some other Senate races we will be watching tonight: 

Utah Senate Seat: Caroline Gleich (D) v. Rep. John Curtis (R)

In the race to replace outgoing senator Mitt Romney, current US Rep. Curtis is polling ahead of Democrat Gleich by 35% — a lead largely attributed to the crypto industry. 

The Defend American Jobs PAC (part of the Fairshake Super PAC trio) donated $1.9 million to Curtis’s campaign as of mid-October, making up almost 35% of the representative’s total contributions. 

Curtis co-sponsored two crypto-related bills in the House this session: the FIT21 Act and the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. He also voted in favor of the bill that sought to discredit the SEC’s SAB 121 guidance, which was ultimately vetoed by President Biden. 

“[It] is so important to get government involved, because if they don’t understand what you’re doing, they’ll make really bad decisions,” Curtis said last month at Blockworks’ Permissionless conference in Salt Lake City. “The worst part of regulation is its unpredictability.”

Michigan Senate Seat: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) v. Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R)

This race will be interesting for two reasons. First, it’s going to be very close, according to the latest polls, which have Slotkin leading Rogers 49% to 48%. Second, it’s one of very few races this year where both candidates appear relatively supportive of crypto. 

Slotkin has an A rating from Stand With Crypto, and she voted in favor of both FIT21 and the bill to overturn SAB 121. The Protect Progress PAC (the Democratic pro-crypto group associated with Fairshake) has spent more than $10 million supporting Slotkin since the end of October, FEC filings show. 

While Rogers also headed into Election Day with a Stand With Crypto A rating, the data to support this ranking is a bit less robust. Rogers, a US representative from 2001 to 2015, doesn’t have a crypto voting record, but has leaned into pro-crypto messaging throughout his campaign. 

Arizona Senate Seat: Ruben Gallego (D) v. Kari Lake (R)

In another race shaping up to be neck and neck, Lake and Gallego also both have A ratings from Stand With Crypto. 

Lake has publicly supported Donald Trump’s statements on bitcoin as a “last line of defense” against foreign adversaries and has been accepting bitcoin donations throughout her campaign. 

Gallego, like Slotkin, also voted in favor of the SAB 121 resolution and FIT21. He has backing from Protect Progress to the tune of $10 million. 

Keep your eye on Blockworks.co tonight for the latest updates on more crypto-related races. 


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas

article-image

Players can stake ME, trade tokens and link wallets to climb the leaderboard