Rep. Angie Craig’s strong support of cryptocurrency helps the House Majority Whip Tom Emmer secure Republican victories, while Trump profits as his investors lose.

Crypto and Angie Craig

The elephant in the room: We need to talk 
about Angie Craig and the crypto industry.

By Chuck Smith-Dewey 

Seniors are vulnerable. The crypto industry targets seniors1. Crypto scams stole $5.6 billion from Americans last year, mostly from older people2.

Democratic Rep. Angie Craig (MN-CD2) and Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN-CD6) are two of the eight original co-sponsors3 of legislation named the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or the CLARITY Act for short. Emmer founded and co-chairs the House Crypto Conference, and the legislation purports to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, but it’s not necessarily a good thing. 

The CLARITY Act is strongly supported by both the cryptocurrency industry and President Trump4, who seek a weak bill, largely influenced by them, as a way to provide the industry a veneer of legitimacy.

A minority report from the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee recently charged that the bill does not adequately address national security concerns, money laundering, suspected human trafficking, and other criminal use of the currency5.

Money buys influence

The crypto industry has invested nearly $200 million in U.S. elections this year to ensure they have a Congress that will do their bidding. Crypto contributions make up more than one-third of all corporate money contributed to the 2026 elections6. Some of it is given directly to candidates, but a huge majority is in the form of independent expenditures by political action committees (PACs) and independent expenditures by 501(c) 4 organizations which are not required to report their funding to the Federal Election Commission.

In the 2024 election cycle, crypto-backed super PACs –like Fairshake7 — spent about $1.2 million to $1.4 million running advertisements supporting Representative Angie Craig. While funded by the crypto industry, its advertisements rarely mentioned cryptocurrency. They instead focused on Craig’s upbringing in Arkansas and portrayed her as an inflation fighter.8

About a half dozen PACs and 501(c) 4s have spent $11 million this primary season on building Craig up while tearing down her opponent. It is estimated that they are investing $1 million a week (!) trying to defeat the DFL-endorsed Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan.

Earlier this year, crypto spent $10 million trying to defeat Illinois’ Lt. Governor in her bid to get the Democratic nomination for that state’s open U.S. Senate seat. They failed, and may have adjusted their tactics, if not their investments9.

Why crypto is dangerous

Crypto is not backed by any assets; it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It’s like the marketing of magic beans10. The FBI warns that cryptocurrency investment fraud, which the media commonly describes as pig butchering, is one of the most prevalent and damaging fraud schemes today11.

Trump makes $1.4B; his investors lose $3.8B

President Trump wants the United States to be the world leader in cryptocurrency, and it’s no wonder why … in recent weeks, we’ve seen that President Trump has made about $1.4 billion from his family’s cryptocurrency businesses12. However, nearly 1 million investors who bought the $TRUMP meme coin have lost a combined total of $3.81 billion. The token’s value has collapsed by roughly 97% from its peak price13 14.

Angie, Eric Trump, and the Republicans

Last August, Angie Craig was a no-show on the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair. Instead, she was the only Democrat speaking at an invitation-only, $10,000 a ticket, crypto industry event in Jackson Hole (SALT Conference)15. One journalist reported that Craig “warmed up the crowd for Eric Trump, who spoke just after her16.”

Craig and every single Republican member of Congress from Minnesota (and 208 Republicans nationwide) get an “A” rating from the pro-industry site standwithcrypto.com. Every other Democratic member of Congress from Minnesota and Peggy Flanagan gets an “F”17. Interestingly, only one Republican member of Congress nationwide gets an “F”.

Angie Craig also stood with Minnesota’s four Republicans in voting “yes” on an earlier piece of pro-crypto legislation, the so-called “Genius Act,18” which passed in 2025. Senators Klobuchar and Smith voted “no”19.

Craig has said that the Trump family involvement in crypto is the reason most Democrats would not vote for the CLARITY Act, but nonetheless, she voted for it herself20.

Parting thoughts

Do your own research. Mine has been footnoted below. The Supreme Court decision on Citizens United has allowed corporations to do unlimited funding of elections, often with their identities cloaked. This scourge affects both political parties.

In addition, Angie Craig and the four Minnesota Republican members of congress all solicit Corporate PAC campaign contributions directly to their campaigns. Craig, like the Republicans, has done so throughout her political career21 22.

Are you looking for candidates you can feel good about?

If you are looking to help a people-fueled Minnesota campaign that rejects corporate PAC money, consider contributing to these DFL-endorsed candidates:

Crypto spending 

• Cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, Big Tech and online betting corporations have collectively spent $294 million to influence federal elections in the 2026 midterm cycle.
• These corporate super PAC political contributions make up 57% of the $517 million that corporations have reported spending on the 2026 midterms so far.
• The 2026 total so far amounts to nearly one third of the $1.58 billion that corporations have spent since the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United.
• The half-billion in midterm spending by corporations breaks the previous record of $461 million in disclosed federal corporate spending set during the 2024 cycle.
• Crypto corporations, which pioneered this strategy in the 2024 presidential election cycle, remain the dominant corporate political spenders, as over one third (37%) of the corporate money contributed during this year’s elections came from crypto businesses ($189 million so far).
• The biggest beneficiaries of crypto’s corporate spending are the sector-focused Fairshake ($82.6 million) and MAGA Inc. ($56.2 million), the Trump-backing super PAC.
– excerpted from PUBLIC CITIZEN

Direct PAC donations 

Another factor affecting campaigns is direct PAC donations to candidates.
In the 2024 congressional elections, among the 435 members of the House of Representatives, Rep. Angie Craig ranked as the 15th largest recipient nationwide and 6th among all Democrats, with total PAC contributions amounting to $2,227,635.
The analysis of Political Action Committee (PAC) donations to congressional candidates shows that business interests largely control the total funding. However, there are clear differences in how corporate, labor, and ideological PACs allocate their funds to the Democratic and Republican parties.

2026 Senate race

As reported by Open Secrets, 14 percent of the direct contributions to Craig’s Senate campaign, as of March 31, 2026, came from PACs. Of this, 73 percent was from business interests, 21 percent from single-issue groups, and 6 percent from labor unions.

How to Fight the Biggest SuperPAC in Politics w/ Ben McKenzie

Ben McKenzie explores cryptocurrency in his directorial debut, Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, moving from curiosity to exposing harsh truths. His documentary both educates and entertains while delivering a powerful critique of the crypto world.
Here is an excellent interview that Indivisible’s founders conducted with him on their YouTube show. Click here or the image above to watch.

  Footnotes

  1. Cryptocurrency Scams Are Targeting Older Adults: What You Need to Know[↩]
  2. Crypto scams stole $5.6 billion from Americans last year, mostly from older people[↩]
  3. Ranking Member Angie Craig, Davis Introduce Digital Asset Market Clarity Act[↩]
  4. Trump sides with crypto firms in trillion-dollar battle with banks over stablecoin yield[↩]
  5. National Security Advisory: Open-Source Reporting on Risks Posed by Digital Assets[↩]
  6. Crypto Industry Spent $189M on US Elections in 2026[↩]
  7. DC Memo: Crypto industry spending big on Craig’s reelection campaign[↩]
  8. A crypto PAC is one of Minnesota’s biggest election spenders[↩]
  9. Cryptocurrency and AI industries tested their influence in Illinois. It didn’t go well[↩]
  10. Paul Krugman: Crypto is for Criming[↩]
  11. Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud[↩]
  12. Trump Financial Disclosure Crypto Windfall[↩]
  13. The Street: Nearly 1 million $TRUMP coin buyers lost $3.8 billion[↩]
  14. Trump’s Crypto Fans Rocked by Jaw-Dropping Losses[↩]
  15. Rep. Angie Craig Was the Lone Democrat at an Elite Crypto Symposium[↩]
  16. Minnesota’s Angie Craig Lines Up With Crypto at GOP-Heavy Conference[↩]
  17. Find out where Minnesota politicians stand on crypto[↩]
  18. House Roll Call Vote 200[↩]
  19. Roll Call Vote 119th Congress – 1st Session[↩]
  20. Trump’s Crypto ‘Conflicts of Interest’ Are ‘Blocking’ Dem Legislation Support, Top Lawmaker Says[↩]
  21. Rep. Angie Craig, critic of Musk, donating SpaceX PAC campaign contributions[↩]
  22. Democrats face flak for accepting contributions from donors funding Trump ballroom[↩]