Crypto's Political Impact in Latin America Remains Minor

On September 15, the US Senate voted 49 to 50 on a motion to even begin debating the CLARITY Act, a market structure bill the crypto sector had been negotiating for over a year. 

The measure required sixty votes to proceed. No Democrat supported it, and the objections were more about the industry's political ties than the text itself.

In Washington, Crypto Has Discovered How to Command Politicians' Attention

The events that followed were more revealing than the vote. Days later, Fairshake announced it would allocate $30 million to oppose Sherrod Brown's Senate bid in Ohio.

Fairshake is a super PAC — a committee that under US law can spend unlimited amounts for or against candidates — and its funding comes primarily from Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Concurrently, Stand With Crypto, the advocacy group launched by Coinbase in 2023 to grade lawmakers on crypto issues and mobilize voters, warned that the senators who blocked the bill could face consequences at the polls on November 3.

Many in the industry find this uncomfortable. I suspect it will prove effective.

🚨Revenge spend: Following the demise of the Clarity Act, Fairshake is gearing up to make its biggest spend of the year: $30 million against Sherrod Brown as he takes another shot at returning to the Senate, where, if successful, he could reclaim his seniority and return as chair… https://t.co/WLf9ChHnFv

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 21, 2026

In 2024, Fairshake spent about $40 million to help defeat Brown the first time, teaching American politicians that crypto had become an issue backed by significant spending.

A spring Politico poll showed that only 3% of Americans recognized Fairshake's name, revealing its real audience: members of Congress, who are very familiar with the PAC.

In Argentina, a Single Crypto Scandal Speaks More Loudly Than Millions of Users

Latin America has nothing similar, and I do not think money is the main reason.

A while back, I accompanied industry colleagues to Argentina's Congress to discuss a tax asymmetry with several senators and deputies. It was a technical matter, the type of meeting that usually ends with an advisor jotting down notes.

Instead, the sole topic they wished to discuss was LIBRA, the cryptocurrency President Milei shared on X in February 2025, which collapsed within hours.

That occurs when a lawmaker looks at an industry and sees a scandal rather than voters. And in Argentina, the voters exist.

According to an industry report, about 12.4% of the population, or roughly one in eight Argentines, used a crypto app each month in 2025, the highest rate in the region.

A group of that size would normally be courted by any politician, yet it remains largely invisible to lawmakers, partly because we have never made the effort to highlight it.

Argentina’s President Reportedly Took $5M to Promote LIBRA Crypto

Leaked files suggest Argentina’s President Javier Milei agreed to a $5M deal to promote the LIBRA cryptocurrency pic.twitter.com/WKXehzDUPP

— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) March 16, 2026

Brazil's Tight Election Reveals a Missed Opportunity

Brazil provides a new test for that argument. On October 25, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a fourth term by winning the presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro with roughly 51.8% of valid votes versus 48.2%.

The result reversed the October 4 first round, where Bolsonaro had led with 47.03% compared to Lula's 45.16%.

A contest that swings that much and ends within a few points is precisely where an organized voter bloc can make a difference. In Brazil, as in Argentina, daily crypto users have yet to unite as such a group.

Crypto's Untapped Political Potential

Replicating Fairshake is neither feasible nor advisable here, given the region's campaign finance rules and political culture. However, two elements of the US playbook do travel well.

Industry trade groups should move past serving solely as technical experts and begin compiling public, fact-based records of how each lawmaker votes and comments on digital assets, similar to Stand With Crypto's ratings of Congress members.

Additionally, platforms should present concrete figures. Exchanges collectively know how many users reside in each province, how many receive payments in stablecoins, and how many hold savings in dollars because local banks offered no better alternative.

Walking into a senator's office with that breakdown of their own province changes the conversation.

The regional industry has for years sought a seat at the table from regulators, and in most nations it has obtained one.

What remains missing is a way to make lawmakers realize, before the next scandal does it for them, that the people using these tools also vote.