WASHINGTON, D.C. — The battle between Sen. Sherrod Brown and Bernie Moreno in Ohio is on track to be the most expensive Senate race in history. One of the largest outside spenders is the crypto industry, which is spending tens of millions of dollars to tip the scales in the race against Brown, a critic of the industry.

Super PAC Defend American Jobs has poured $40.1 million into the race. The super PAC is affiliated with Fairshake, another super PAC that is funded by Coinbase, Ripple and other crypto companies.

The ads from Defend American Jobs tout Moreno’s positions on social security, energy and illegal immigration, but don’t mention cryptocurrency. All promote Moreno in an effort to push him over the finish line ahead of Brown.

As the powerful chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Brown has the power to block a bill to loosen the regulation of crypto assets, known as FIT 21. The bill would reclassify many kinds of crypto as commodities rather than securities. Rules for commodities, examples of which include oil, wheat or electricity, are generally looser than those for financial securities like stocks or bonds. The bill passed the House and is currently sitting in the Senate Banking Committee.

Brown has long been skeptical of allowing the crypto industry to loosen regulations.

“The FTX collapse showed how dangerous crypto can be,” Brown said at a Banking Committee hearing in Sept. 2023, referring to the 2022 bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. “But FTX wasn't the only bad apple. It was just the most explosive example of the problems in crypto: failure to provide real disclosure, the conflicts of interest, the risky bets with customer money that was supposed to be safe… For consumers, it adds up to billions of dollars.”

Moreno is seen as more friendly to crypto firms. The businessman previously launched a digital car titling company based on blockchain, the technology also used for cryptocurrency.

“I sold my Bitcoin, so I didn't want to have any nonsense from liberal reporters saying that I'm pro-crypto because of financial interest,” Moreno said in an interview on FOX News in June. “We need people who understand the technology. We know that it's essential to give them regulatory certainty so that this technology and future technologies get developed here in America.”

Moreno’s campaign wrote in a statement,

“Sherrod Brown is the most anti-crypto senator and has even threatened to ban it all together. The industry knows that Bernie will be an ally for individual freedom and support legislation that allows Americans to freely make their own financial choices. Unlike Sherrod, who doesn’t know the difference between blockchain and a chainsaw, Bernie has a deep understanding of the technology, what it takes to make certain it develops here in America, and will work to ensure America leads the world."

Brown’s campaign declined to comment for this story.

The crypto industry’s support for Moreno is part of a broader strategy to elect crypto-friendly lawmakers across the nation. As of August, crypto firms made nearly half of all corporate donations in this year’s federal elections. Fairshake spent $132.4 million dollars on elections this year.