Crypto companies have contributed $206 million toward the 2026 U.S. election cycle as industry backed political groups continue directing money into congressional races ahead of the November midterms.

Public Citizen said in an Aug. 27 analysis of Federal Election Commission records that cryptocurrency companies represented the largest of three technology related sectors driving corporate political spending this election cycle. Crypto contributions reached $206 million, compared with $76 million from online betting companies and $62 million from Big Tech, AI and data center related businesses.

Corporate contributions across all sectors have reached $646 million so far, according to the consumer advocacy group. The figure is already 40% above the $461 million recorded across the entire 2024 presidential election cycle and more than triple the $184.1 million reported during the 2022 midterms.

Crypto companies, online betting firms and businesses connected with AI and data centers contributed a combined $344 million, accounting for 53% of the corporate contributions disclosed to the FEC in Public Citizen’s analysis.

Crypto PAC Fairshake remains at center of election spending

Fairshake has remained the main political vehicle for crypto companies during the 2026 election cycle, with Public Citizen calculating $83 million in corporate contributions to the super PAC through the second quarter. The group listed total crypto corporate contributions at $206 million over the same period.

Federal Election Commission records currently show Fairshake reported $137.4 million in total receipts between Jan. 1, 2025 and July 31, 2026. The committee recorded $88.7 million in total disbursements over the period, including $65 million transferred to affiliated committees and approximately $13.3 million in independent expenditures. Its cash on hand stood at nearly $113 million at the end of July.

Fairshake works alongside Protect Progress, which has primarily participated in Democratic contests, and Defend American Jobs, which has focused on Republican races.

The network entered the election year with substantially more money available. As crypto.news previously reported, Fairshake had built a $193 million war chest by January, backed by crypto companies and investors including Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz.

By August, Fairshake affiliates had directed money into races across several states. Protect Progress spent roughly $113,120 supporting Rep. Suzan DelBene, around $105,040 backing Rep. Kim Schrier and approximately $103,020 supporting Rep. Marilyn Strickland in Washington. Defend American Jobs spent close to $506,917 supporting Republican Amanda McKinney.

The network had supported nearly 50 candidates who secured party nominations by the end of the primary season. Fairshake entered the final stage of the election cycle with a reported $122 million available for spending before the Nov. 3 general election.

Fairshake has spent across Democratic and Republican races

Fairshake’s affiliates have intervened in races involving candidates from both major parties, with their spending centered on congressional candidates and digital asset policy.

Protect Progress spent $5 million supporting Democrat Christian Menefee in the Texas 18th Congressional District runoff and another $2.8 million opposing then Rep. Al Green. Menefee defeated Green in the May Democratic primary runoff.

Spending continued into other primaries. Fairshake linked groups deployed more than $8 million across races in Maryland, New York and Utah in June, including expenditures supporting Adrian Boafo and Rep. Ritchie Torres.

Protect Progress later spent nearly $1 million in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District Democratic primary in activity tied to Rep. Shri Thanedar and challenger Donavan McKinney. Fairshake affiliates separately supported candidates in Michigan and Washington during August.

Public Citizen described the crypto sector’s 2026 activity as an extension of its 2024 election strategy, when industry backed groups participated in Democratic and Republican primaries and supported or opposed candidates from either party. The organization characterized Fairshake and similar industry funded committees as groups structured around the interests of their corporate backers.

Crypto companies spread political contributions beyond Fairshake

Fairshake has not received all of the sector’s political money.

Gemini Trust Company contributed $10 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump, according to Public Citizen’s review of second quarter filings. The contribution represented most of the $17 million in new corporate money reported by MAGA Inc. during the period.

FEC filings showed the contribution consisted of two Bitcoin transactions made on June 19 and valued at more than $5 million each. The $10 million Gemini contribution was reported in July.

Jump Crypto Holdings contributed another $4 million to Jump PAC during the second quarter, according to the Public Citizen analysis.

Earlier estimates had already placed crypto near the top of corporate political spending. Public Citizen calculated in June that the industry had contributed $189 million during the 2026 cycle. Its August analysis raised the figure to $206 million after incorporating second quarter disclosures, an increase of $17 million from the earlier estimate.

Fairshake prepares another $30 million election push

Fairshake’s spending is continuing as the general election approaches.

The super PAC has prepared at least $30 million to oppose former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, which would represent its largest planned expenditure of the 2026 election cycle. Brown is seeking a return to the Senate against Republican Sen. Jon Husted in the state’s November special election.

The $30 million Ohio campaign emerged days after the Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on Sept. 15. A procedural motion to begin debate received 50 votes to 49 but needed 60 votes to advance. Disagreements during negotiations included stablecoin rewards, presidential ethics provisions, protections for decentralized software developers and the division of regulatory authority.

Brown previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee between 2021 and January 2025 and raised concerns during his tenure about consumer risks, illicit finance and money laundering involving digital assets. Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto said in 2025 that the group would continue supporting candidates it considers favorable toward crypto and opposing candidates it views as hostile to the industry.

Ohio was Fairshake’s most expensive target during the 2024 election cycle as well. The network spent more than $40 million supporting Republican Bernie Moreno against Brown, according to reporting cited in the latest coverage. Moreno defeated Brown in November 2024 and later joined the Senate Banking Committee.

Binance bought $100 million of Circle shares as the companies signed a five-year deal that pays the crypto exchange to promote the USDC stablecoin on its platform.

Circle issued Binance 1.24 million Class A shares at $80.84 each in a private placement that closed Sept. 17, according to an SEC filing published Tuesday. The price reflected a discount to Circle’s market value before the sale, the company said.

Binance cannot sell, transfer or hedge the shares for as long as two years, subject to certain exceptions, but retains the right to vote them.

The equity purchase closed alongside an expansion of the companies’ existing USDC partnership. Circle agreed to pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated as a percentage of the USDC held through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet service, while Binance will carry out promotional activities for the stablecoin.

The cryptocurrency market cap briefly climbed back above $3 trillion earlier on Tuesday as Bitcoin and the biggest altcoins extended a broad rally, while increasing leverage pointed to growing speculative activity. 

Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $86,000, up about 4.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Ether (ETH) gained about 2.3% to $2,745, while XRP rose 5.7% to $1.53 and Solana (SOL) advanced 3.6% to $117. BNB gained 1.6%, while Dogecoin (DOGE) was among the stronger large-cap performers, rising about 11%.

The total crypto market cap stood just below $3 trillion at the time of writing, up about 4.3% over the previous day. 

Bloomberg reported that open interest in perpetual futures across crypto had climbed to nearly $160 billion, its highest level since late October 2025. More than $920 million in bearish positions were liquidated on Monday as prices surged, according to the report, raising the prospect that leverage could amplify moves in either direction.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs also drew nearly $1 billion on Monday, their largest single-day inflow since October 2025.

Further down the market-cap rankings, Akedo’s AKE token has emerged as one of the week’s biggest movers. Ranked 208th out of all 8,161 active cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, AKE has gained about 170% over the past seven days, lifting its market cap to roughly $1.2 billion, at the time of writing.

The AI gaming and content token reached an all-time high of $0.1467 on Sunday before plunging more than 60% from its peak. Traders have exchanged $108.9 million worth of AKE in the past 24 hours.

Related: Bitcoin cycle bottom may already be in at $58K, says analyst James Check

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

Bitcoin pushed to around $86,000 this week, lifting broader crypto sentiment and helping the total market value reclaim the $3 trillion mark. Alongside the move, several cross-asset signals have shifted—most notably a Glassnode metric that now points toward stronger altcoin performance.

At the same time, spot ETF flows in the US have surged back to levels not seen since October 2025, with record daily inflows reported for both Bitcoin and Ether products. Together, the data suggests the current rally isn’t confined to the largest asset classes, though market structure still matters as investors weigh whether this is a sustained rotation or a short-lived burst.

Key takeaways

• Glassnode’s Altcoin Cycle Signal rose to 81.25 (0–100 scale) as the “altcoin season” read improved in the wake of the latest market upswing.
• Altcoin market cap reached $1.19 trillion on Tuesday, the highest level since late January, with altcoins up 33% since Aug. 19.
• Bitcoin dominance has stayed rangebound near 59%–60% and has not broken above 60% in the past month.
• US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $999 million in inflows on Monday, while Ether ETFs pulled in $270 million—both the highest daily totals since October 2025, per Farside Investors.

Glassnode’s “altcoin season” signal turns bullish

Glassnode’s on-chain analytics has renewed attention on altcoin relative strength this week. Its Altcoin Cycle Signal—an internally developed measure that compares the combined market cap of the 250 largest cryptocurrencies (excluding stablecoins) against Bitcoin—has flipped to favor altcoins, a condition crypto traders commonly label “altseason.”

In Glassnode’s framework, an “altcoin season” signal is generated when relative market-cap growth among the group of top altcoins temporarily outpaces that of Bitcoin. While the broad logic is clear, Glassnode does not publish the exact methodology behind the calculation.

As of Monday, the seven-day rolling mean of the signal stood at 81.25 on Glassnode’s normalized 0–100 scale, indicating a stronger tilt toward altcoin outperformance than earlier in the cycle.

Glassnode attributed part of the shift to breadth in the latest rally. In a post on X, the firm highlighted that an earlier August move saw altcoins lag in terms of participation, whereas the current upswing has “ignited the full breadth of the altcoin market.”

Altcoin market cap hits the highest point since late January

The signal is reinforced by market-cap data. According to the article’s figures, the combined altcoin market cap reached $1.19 trillion on Tuesday—its highest reading since late January.

That metric has also shown meaningful acceleration since Aug. 19, when crypto markets experienced a flash upside tied to a US Treasury announcement about interventions in bond markets. Since then, altcoins’ total market capitalization has increased by 33%.

For traders and portfolio managers, this combination—an “altcoin season” read alongside a rising altcoin market cap—can matter because it can indicate that the rally is expanding beyond Bitcoin leadership. However, rotation signals still tend to be fragile until they show persistence across multiple trading sessions and market conditions.

Bitcoin dominance remains capped near 60%

While altcoins have regained momentum, Bitcoin’s share of the overall market has not broken decisively upward. The article notes that Bitcoin dominance has remained rangebound since the Aug. 19 period, currently sitting at 59.7% versus 59.2% on Aug. 19.

Crucially, dominance has failed to push through the 60% level over the last month—an area many market observers treat as a psychological and technical threshold for whether capital is rotating away from Bitcoin or consolidating in it.

Trader and commentator Matthew Hyland characterized the environment as “complacency” among Bitcoin investors, arguing that investors have been slow to accept that Bitcoin has lacked sustained progress against altcoins since dominance reached about 66% in June 2025. His comments point to a tension: even if Bitcoin remains strong in absolute terms, relative underperformance versus altcoins can still drive strategic repositioning.

ETF inflows rebound sharply for both Bitcoin and Ether

Beyond on-chain and market-cap measures, investor behavior also appears to be shifting. This week has brought a broad rebound in US spot ETF demand across both Bitcoin and Ether products, suggesting renewed risk appetite—or, at minimum, renewed willingness to allocate through regulated vehicles.

On Monday, the combined inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs totaled $999 million. Ether ETFs, meanwhile, recorded $270 million in inflows. In both cases, the daily totals were described as the highest since October 2025, based on data from Farside Investors.

Cointelegraph previously reported that Bitcoin ETF investors’ aggregate cost basis sat just below $86,000 at the end of last week. With BTC/USD attempting to establish that level as support, the renewed ETF buying becomes particularly relevant: cost basis can influence how investors react to pullbacks, and steady inflows can help sustain demand during volatility.

For market participants, the ETF angle is also notable because it links the current move to a broader pool of investors who may prefer ETF access over spot exchanges. When ETF flows rise in tandem with improvements in altcoin-relative signals, it can indicate a more synchronized shift in sentiment across the market.

Going forward, investors will likely watch whether the altcoin “season” signal holds above its recent threshold and whether Bitcoin dominance can either break higher above 60% or continue to stay capped—both scenarios could shape how long this rotation lasts. On the ETF front, the key question is whether inflows remain strong beyond a single day, since sustained demand is more likely to translate into durable price leadership across the broader market.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) rise to $86,000 this week has dragged altcoin markets higher as the industry’s market cap reclaimed $3 trillion.

Key points:

• Glassnode’s Altcoin Cycle Signal printed a new “altcoin season” signal as it reached 81.25 of a maximum 100.
• Bitcoin dominance, BTC’s market share among crypto assets, failed to break 60% and has stayed rangebound over the past month.
• On Monday, both Bitcoin and Ether ETFs saw their highest daily inflows since October 2025.

Altcoin Cycle Signal flips to favor altcoins over Bitcoin

A proprietary metric from onchain analytics platform Glassnode has delivered a new “altcoin season” signal this week on the back of recent crypto market upside.

Glassnode’s Altcoin Cycle Signal, which compares the market cap of the 250 largest cryptocurrencies relative to Bitcoin, has flipped to favoring altcoin outperformance. Altcoin season — known in crypto circles as ‘altseason’ — refers to periods when altcoins outperform Bitcoin in combined market-cap growth. Glassnode’s metric delivers “altcoin season” signals when relative growth in market cap of the 250 largest altcoins, excluding stablecoins, is temporarily stronger than that of Bitcoin. The exact methodology behind the calculation is not disclosed.

The seven-day rolling mean value of the Altcoin Cycle Signal measured 81.25 on its normalized scale from 0-100 as of Monday.

“The first rally in August saw altcoins stay relatively flat while BTC moved. However, today’s rally has ignited the full breadth of the altcoin market,” Glassnode reported in a post on X.

The combined altcoin market cap reached $1.19 trillion on Tuesday, marking its highest level since late January. Altcoins have increased their market capitalization by 33% since Aug. 19, when crypto markets saw flash upside on the back of an announcement by the US Treasury over interventions in bond markets.

Total altcoin market cap one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin’s dominance over the total crypto market cap, meanwhile, has continued to act within a narrow range since then, and currently sits at 59.7% versus 59.2% on Aug. 19.

Commenting on the current dynamic, trader and commentator Matthew Hyland described a state of “complacency” among Bitcoin investors, suggesting that dominance had already set a macro high when it reached 66% in June 2025. He argued on Saturday that investors have remained unwilling to accept Bitcoin’s lack of progress against altcoins since then.

BTC dominance of crypto market cap one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Crypto ETFs see broad rebound in inflows 

Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reveal a blanket rebound in investor demand across both Bitcoin and altcoin products this week.

Related: Kyle Samani predicts SOL flippening, claims ‘no one’ uses ETH

On Monday, the US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw combined inflows of $999 million, while Ether (ETH) ETFs took in $270 million. In both cases, the daily tally was the highest since October 2025, per data from UK-based investment company Farside Investors.

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin ETF investors’ aggregate cost basis sat at just below $86,000 at the end of last week, with BTC/USD now attempting to cement that level as support.

Bitcoin, Ether ETF netflows data. Source: Farside Investors

The privacy coin sector has expanded nearly fivefold over the past year to roughly $30 billion, according to a Sept. 22 research note from 21Shares, as Zcash has led gains and financial institutions continue testing confidential blockchain infrastructure.

21Shares said the sector had risen from $6.2 billion a year earlier and was trading 216% above its October 2025 peak based on the firm’s dataset. The asset manager placed Zcash at around $20 billion in market capitalization when it prepared the research and described privacy as an increasingly important requirement for institutional blockchain use.

“Privacy is not a feature digital assets can bolt on later,” 21Shares research strategist Matt Mena wrote, arguing that public transaction histories can expose corporate balances, counterparties and trading strategies.

Independent market data taken later on Sept. 22 showed the rally had moved further. CoinGecko showed the privacy-coin category at roughly $36.9 billion, led by Zcash at close to $25 billion and Monero at approximately $11.2 billion.

The totals are not directly interchangeable because 21Shares and CoinGecko use their own category definitions and market snapshots. CoinGecko separately values its full privacy category, which includes privacy infrastructure and other privacy-related networks, at more than $60 billion.

Privacy coins gain as Zcash approaches $25 billion

Zcash has accounted for most of the recent rise among dedicated privacy coins. CoinGecko’s Sept. 22 reading put ZEC near $1,473, with a market capitalization close to $25 billion. The token had gained roughly 22% over seven days and 75% during the previous 30 days at that snapshot.

Those figures have moved well beyond the approximately $20 billion valuation used in the 21Shares report. The firm’s research compared the current market value with Zcash’s roughly $4 billion peak during 2021 and said the network had risen around 400% above that earlier level.

The price advance has come alongside a rise in coins held inside Zcash’s shielded pools. ZecStats reported that 4.91 million ZEC, or 29% of issued supply, was shielded as of 05:34 UTC on Sept. 22. At the prevailing market price, those coins were worth approximately $7.19 billion.

The 29% reading measures the share of issued ZEC held in shielded pools, not the share of transactions using privacy. ZecStats counts Sprout, Sapling, Orchard and the newer Ironwood pool, which activated on July 28 after developers replaced the affected Orchard design.

Zcash activated Ironwood through the NU6.3 upgrade after developers discovered a soundness vulnerability in Orchard earlier this year. Project Tachyon later published machine-checked proofs covering Ironwood’s balance integrity before activation.

Zcash introduced Ironwood after the Orchard vulnerability raised supply-integrity concerns, while users subsequently migrated much of the shielded balance into the replacement pool.

Zcash ETF adds a regulated U.S. access route

U.S. investment access changed during the same period. Grayscale’s Zcash ETF began trading on NYSE Arca under the ZCSH ticker on Aug. 25, becoming the first exchange-traded product offering spot exposure to ZEC.

Grayscale said ZCSH was created through the conversion of its existing Zcash Trust. The product gives brokerage-account holders price exposure to ZEC without requiring them to manage private keys.

Grayscale launched the first Zcash ETF with direct ZEC exposure after the registration became effective in August.

An SEC filing later showed more than $70 million of cumulative inflows during ZCSH’s first two weeks, separate from a $100 million investment by a Digital Currency Group affiliate. Grayscale warned in its filings that ZEC remains highly volatile and investors can lose their entire investment.

Another regulatory event preceded the fund’s launch. Grayscale’s filings state that the SEC terminated its investigation or enforcement action involving the Zcash Foundation in January 2026. The filing does not establish that ending the investigation caused or guaranteed the later approval of ZCSH.

Ethereum and Solana put privacy on development roadmaps

21Shares argues that demand for confidentiality is extending beyond tokens built specifically around privacy. Ethereum and Solana are developing systems intended to make selected transaction or application data less exposed while preserving verification.

Ethereum’s official roadmap describes three main privacy tracks: private reads, private writes and private proving. Private reads focus on stopping wallets and infrastructure providers from leaking query information, while private writes cover transaction activity and metadata. Private proving uses cryptography to demonstrate facts without revealing the underlying data.

The Ethereum Foundation has created an Institutional Privacy Task Force alongside its Privacy and Scaling Explorations research group. Its institutional portal describes work on zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, trusted execution environments and privacy-focused Layer 2 networks for regulated financial applications.

Not every proposed privacy change is guaranteed to reach Ethereum’s mainnet. The Foundation’s roadmap says timelines can change during technical review and the network’s consensus process.

Ethereum has placed privacy among the priorities for its Hegotá development cycle, with Frame Transactions and other proposals being assessed alongside censorship-resistance and post-quantum work.

Solana already provides Confidential Balances through its Token-2022 framework. Solana’s documentation states that the feature can encrypt balances and transfer amounts while leaving token accounts, account owners and participation publicly visible.

Issuers may configure an optional auditor key that decrypts confidential transfer amounts. Solana says the auditor key does not reveal the full account balance and cannot authorize transfers.

Canton uses controlled disclosure for institutional transactions

Institutional privacy is taking a different form on Canton Network, which was built around controlled information sharing between participants.

Digital Asset told the SEC in an Aug. 17 comment letter that Canton had more than 1,000 participants and supported more than $8 trillion in tokenized securities activity each month. The company named Broadridge, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Société Générale among institutions using the network.

The $8 trillion figure describes monthly financial activity reported by Digital Asset and should not be interpreted as $8 trillion of assets permanently held on a public blockchain.

DTCC has moved part of its tokenization work into production testing on Canton. On July 15, the market infrastructure company reported successful production transactions involving tokenized DTC-held securities across Canton and DTCC’s private Besu network.

More than 30 firms participated in workflows covering U.S. Treasury repo transactions, securities lending, collateral pledges, equities and delivery-versus-payment trades. DTCC plans to launch its Tokenization Service in October 2026.

Canton has attracted banks developing tokenized deposits and institutional settlement systems, including projects involving JPMorgan and other large financial institutions.

Privacy growth still faces regulatory limits

21Shares used crime data to challenge the view that privacy assets account for most illicit cryptocurrency use. Chainalysis estimated that illicit addresses received at least $154 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025, while attributed illicit transactions remained below 1% of overall crypto transaction volume.

Stablecoins represented 84% of identified illicit crypto volume in the firm’s 2026 report. Chainalysis said this partly follows their extensive legitimate use, high liquidity, low volatility and cross-border transfer capabilities. The data does not measure whether a specific privacy coin is free from criminal use.

Regulatory treatment still varies by jurisdiction. The European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulation prohibits crypto-asset service providers from maintaining anonymous crypto accounts or accounts that allow increased transaction obfuscation through anonymity-enhancing coins.

The provision applies from July 10, 2027, when the EU’s new anti-money laundering regulation takes effect for covered financial and crypto service providers.

Since then, the company has sought to emphasize its cooperation with law enforcement and regulators. The company said in a blog post in February that more than 1,500 people, or about 25% of its global headcount, worked on compliance.

In March, Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, after the newspaper published a report claiming the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether Iran used the platform to move funds in violation of American sanctions.

Richard Teng, Binance co-CEO, accused the Wall Street Journal of “inaccurate reporting about our compliance program” at the time.

In April, the New York Times reported that Binance made it more difficult for law enforcement officials in several countries to obtain user information, making it harder to find scammers and combat money laundering.

Binance has continuously affirmed it has never permitted transactions with people who were under sanctions and has pledged to continue cooperation with authorities.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, initiated a probe in February into alleged sanctions violations at Binance to the tune of $1.7 billion. Binance responded to the allegations, saying it found no evidence to support the accusations.