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Digital Freedom Fund, the Super PAC created by Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has put its first money into Texas’ Senate contest, reporting more than $81,000 on direct mail to back Republican Ken Paxton and oppose Democrat James Talarico, according to Cointelegraph. The expenditure appeared in a Tuesday filing with the Federal Election Commission and landed as early voting was already open in the state.
The committee, which Cointelegraph reported had raised roughly $34 million through Sept. 30, did not confine itself to Texas. It also logged fresh spending in Ohio’s Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, lifting its total backing for Husted to about $7 million.
Also read: Crypto PAC pours $12M into Alabama Senate runoff as voters head to polls
Key facts
- Digital Freedom Fund reported more than $81,000 on direct mail supporting Paxton and opposing Talarico, its first Texas spending.
- The PAC had raised about $34 million as of Sept. 30 and has now put about $7 million behind Husted in Ohio.
- Early voting in Texas began Oct. 19; Election Day is Nov. 3.
- CNBC reported that Elon Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September, money that reached Texas PAC, which backs Paxton, and that he sent $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC.
- Talarico’s campaign said he raised $64 million in the third quarter, against $18 million for Paxton, according to CNBC.
A billionaire fight over one seat
Texas PAC, a separate group supporting Paxton, is where much of the outside money has concentrated. CNBC reported that the $158 million Musk donated to the Senate Leadership Fund went on to Texas PAC, and that he separately gave $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC. Cointelegraph put Musk’s Senate Leadership Fund contribution at more than $150 million, so the two outlets differ on the precise figure.
Musk also drew a direct response from Talarico. After Musk posted on X that there was something deeply wrong with Talarico, the Democrat replied that the problem lay with a system letting one trillionaire buy his own personal U.S. Senator, CNBC reported. In a speech at the UH Hilton on the University of Houston campus, Talarico told supporters that attack ads, mailers and texts against him traced back to Musk and that Texas was not for sale.
Also read: Crypto PACs spend over $8 million on New York, Maryland, and Utah primaries
The candidates’ own fundraising diverges sharply. Talarico’s campaign said its $64 million third-quarter total was the largest ever reported by a Senate candidate in a third quarter; Paxton raised $18 million over the same period, per CNBC. Paxton earlier defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary, a race in which Fellowship PAC, backed by Anchorage Digital and Cantor Fitzgerald, spent $500,000 on supportive ads routed through the Nxum Group, a marketing firm co-founded by former Trump crypto adviser Bo Hines.
Other PACs spend heavily nearby
Fairshake, funded largely by Ripple Labs, Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz, reported more than $13 million this week across a direct mail push for candidates it deems pro-crypto, including over $4 million against Independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska and $9 million for Husted. Cointelegraph reported Fairshake had invested about $56 million in the Ohio race as of Wednesday.
The spending is aimed at candidates who would support crypto legislation such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a market structure bill that failed a Senate procedural vote last month. Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket have priced heavy odds on Democrats taking both chambers in 2027, which would reshape the path for any such bill.
Why it matters
Texas has not lost Senate or gubernatorial seats to Democrats in more than 30 years, and the scale of outside money now flowing into one Senate race shows how crypto-linked donors have become a routine part of down-ballot politics rather than a novelty. For the industry, the bet is legislative: control of each chamber decides whether market structure rules advance. For voters, the practical effect is a heavier volume of mail, texts and ads in the final stretch.
What to watch
Election Day on Nov. 3 will settle the Texas and Ohio races, and further FEC filings before then will show whether Digital Freedom Fund and Fairshake keep adding to their totals. Senate leadership’s next move on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act will depend on which party holds the majority in 2027.
This article is not financial advice. Prediction market odds and political outcomes are uncertain and can shift quickly.
Reported by cointelegraph.com.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Cnbc