Crypto super PAC muscles into Pennsylvania Senate race

A cryptocurrency super PAC is poised to make a dent in Pennsylvania’s Senate Democratic primary by supporting Democrat John Fetterman.

A new TV ad by Web3 Forward PAC portrays Fetterman as an anti-establishment outsider who has been an advocate for the working class. The commercial does not make any mention of crypto.

“Gonna get schmoozed by lobbyists or bossed around by politicians? Not a chance,” a narrator says in the spot. “John Fetterman’s no stranger to tough fights. As mayor turning around the city of Braddock, crime went down. Jobs came back. As lieutenant governor, saving taxpayers money by refusing to live in the state-owned mansion.”

Joe Calvello, a spokesperson for Fetterman, said that “even though this PAC is supporting John, it doesn’t change his view that super PACs are an example of how deeply broken and dysfunctional our campaign finance system is.”

Fetterman is the progressive frontrunner in the key Democratic primary, which also includes Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. In a statement provided to POLITICO, Web3 Forward confirmed it is endorsing Fetterman and said “he knows America deserves a better internet.”

“Web 3.0 is the next generation of the internet that will democratize financial access, return ownership of the web to the users, and unlock new opportunities for millions on the margins,” the group said. “John Fetterman is a proponent of American leadership in this space."

Web3 Forward states on its website that providing “blockchain innovators the ability to develop their networks under a clearer regulatory and legal framework is vital if the broader open blockchain economy is to grow to its full potential here in the United States.”

While the super PAC declined to share how much it expects to spend on the Pennsylvania Senate race, the group has booked more than $200,000 in the next two weeks running up to the May 17 primary, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Amid the Biden administration’s efforts to regulate cryptocurrency, Web3 Forward has also gotten behind House Democratic candidates Jasmine Crockett in Texas’ 30th District, Val Hoyle in Oregon’s 4th District and Sydney Kamlager in California’s 37th District. The group vowed to spend $1 million to elect Crockett.

Web3 Forward is tied to GMI PAC, a group founded by cryptocurrency financiers that is planning to spend $20 million on congressional candidates during the 2022 midterm election.