Nearly $300M Targeting U.S. Midterm Elections, Tether Exec Leads Crypto Industry's Second-Largest Political Fund

By: blockbeats|2026/04/03 18:58:06
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Original Article Title: "Nearly $300 Million Targeting U.S. Midterms, Tether Exec Leads Crypto Industry's 2nd-Largest Political Fund"
Original Article Author: DeepTech TechFlow

DeepTech Summary: The crypto super PAC Fellowship, founded seven months ago and claiming to have raised over $100 million but not spent a penny to date, announced on Wednesday the appointment of Jesse Spiro, Tether's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, as chairman. This marks the first formal public association between Tether and the PAC. Meanwhile, another major crypto PAC, Fairshake, has a war chest of $193 million, with a total of nearly $300 million in political funds targeting the November midterms, while congressional wrangling over stablecoin regulation remains unresolved.

A political arms race is escalating within the crypto industry.

As reported by Cointelegraph on April 1, the Fellowship PAC announced on Wednesday that Jesse Spiro, Tether's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, will serve as the organization's chairman, leading its next stage of expansion and endorsing a first slate of candidates in the coming days. Fellowship is a super PAC founded in August 2025, claiming last September to have raised "over $100 million" from an undisclosed donor aligned with the crypto industry.

Spiro stated in a press release: "This is a critical moment for American innovation. We have the opportunity to ensure that the United States remains a global center for builders, entrepreneurs, and technological progress. Fellowship PAC is committed to supporting leaders who understand the stakes and are willing to take action."

Nearly 00M Targeting U.S. Midterm Elections, Tether Exec Leads Crypto Industry's Second-Largest Political Fund

From "Deny Association" to "Executive Leadership," Tether's Relationship with Fellowship Comes to Light

Since its high-profile debut in September last year, the identity of Fellowship PAC's backers has been one of the industry's biggest mysteries.

When the PAC was formed, no executives, donors, or key employees were disclosed. Early reports listed Tether as an expected supporter, but Tether International subsequently officially denied any association with the PAC. According to CoinDesk's February report, a Tether International spokesperson explicitly stated that "Tether International has no affiliation with Fellowship."

But FEC records tell a different story. Fellowship's registered finance director, Mitchell Nobel, is an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald, the very entity that serves as the custodian for Tether's multi-billion-dollar reserves. The PAC's registered address is in Bethesda, Maryland.

Now, a current Tether US executive has formally taken on the role of PAC chair, putting an end to various speculations as public records confirm the ties. According to BeInCrypto, this marks the first formal, public association between Fellowship PAC and Tether officials.

Spiro joined Tether in 2024 as the Head of Government Affairs, previously working at PayPal on blockchain and digital asset regulatory issues and earlier holding a government affairs leadership role at blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

A $100 Million "War Chest" Still Untapped, FEC Records Show Zero Expenditure

Despite Fellowship's claim of possessing a $100 million fund, FEC records reveal that as of December 31 last year, the PAC reported no donation income or expenditure. Since its launch event in September last year, Fellowship has only made three public statements on X platform, operating almost in "stealth" mode.

This contrast has sparked widespread scrutiny. CoinDesk highlighted in an investigative report on February 25 that Fellowship, established seven months ago, has "yet to show up," with no trace of its promised $100 million fund in Federal Election Commission disclosures.

Spiro's appointment is seen as a signal of Fellowship resurfacing from its quiet period into the public eye. The PAC stated that it would announce its first round of candidate endorsements in the coming days, with over seven months remaining until the November midterm elections.

Bo Hines, Executive Director of the White House Digital Asset Advisory Committee, expressed support for this appointment on X platform, stating, "The battle for American innovation needs dedicated advocates. Looking forward to seeing leaders elected who truly understand the stakes."

Crypto PAC Arms Race: Fairshake Holds $193 Million, Drops $8.6 Million in Illinois

Fellowship is not the only political funding machine in the crypto industry. Supported by Coinbase, Ripple, and a16z, the Fairshake PAC and its affiliates reported holding $193 million in cash as of January this year, making it the largest super PAC in the crypto industry to date.

Fairshake has begun to take concrete action. According to Cointelegraph, the PAC and its affiliated organizations have spent around $8.6 million in the Illinois state races, six times more than what they spent in the state in 2024. In the March Illinois primary, some Fairshake-backed candidates failed to win, but the midterms are still seven months away.

During the 2024 election cycle, Fairshake spent over $130 million on media buys, supporting over 50 candidates, the majority of whom were successful. Nearly half of the corporate funds flowing into the 2024 elections, according to the nonprofit watchdog organization Public Citizen, came from the crypto industry.

Today, with a combined war chest of nearly $3 billion between Fellowship and Fairshake PACs, along with other political donation forces from the crypto industry, the 2026 midterms are poised to set a new record for industry political spending.

-- Price

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Legislative Shadow War: Stablecoin Yield Dispute Stalls CLARITY Bill, Tether's Interests at Stake

The timing of Spiro's appointment was no accident. The core legislative priority of the crypto industry, the "Crypto Market Clarity Act" (CLARITY Act), is now mired in a Senate standoff, with one of the key issues being stablecoin yields, directly impacting Tether's business model.

The CLARITY Act passed the House in July 2025 by a vote of 294 to 134, and went through markup in the Senate Agriculture Committee in January of this year. However, at the Senate Banking Committee level, a fierce battle has unfolded between the banking sector and the crypto industry over whether stablecoins can offer yield to users.

On March 20, Senator Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks reached a fundamental compromise on stablecoin yields: banning passive yield payments based on holdings but allowing reward programs based on transaction activity. According to CoinDesk, after crypto industry representatives reviewed the latest language behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on March 23, they found the wording too restrictive and ambiguous. Coinbase has twice stated its non-support for the current draft.

The Senate Banking Committee markup is currently scheduled to occur in late April after the Easter recess. Senator Bernie Moreno has cautioned that if the bill does not progress by May, crypto legislation may not receive serious consideration during the midterm election cycle.

To make matters worse, White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks confirmed on March 26 that his 130-day term has expired, with no successor being named by the government. The most critical legislative push for the crypto industry will proceed without the White House's chief advocate.

USDT issued by Tether is the world's largest stablecoin, with a market cap of around $184 billion, but it is not available to U.S. residents. Tether introduced the compliant stablecoin USAT for the U.S. market last year. The final direction of stablecoin yield terms will directly impact Tether and its competitors' operational space in the U.S. market.

Against this backdrop, Tether, by appointing executives to the PAC chair, is moving its political influence-building efforts from behind the scenes to the forefront, sending a clear signal: during a critical legislative window, using political funding to safeguard industry interests.

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