Winklevoss Twins Pour Millions Into Fighting Populist Democrat

Crypto billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss poured more than $2.9 million in just one day into advertising to fight Senate Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, adding to the escalating financial firepower the crypto industry is training on the Ohio populist.

The crypto industry spent roughly $40 million just two years ago to defeat Brown, who was then the Senate Banking Committee chair, only to see Brown bounce back this year to take the slight lead in polling in his campaign against Republican Senator Jon Husted.

The Winklevoss twins’ super political action committee Digital Freedom Fund evenly divided its spending so far in Ohio between $1.48 million on direct mailers attacking Brown and $1.48 million on mailers promoting Husted, according to a new campaign finance filing. The PAC reported that it paid for the mailers on Sept. 25 and they were sent out on Tuesday.

It was the first expenditure for a candidate that the twins’ super PAC has made this year. The group began the midterm election cycle with more than $21 million in cash on hand.

The twins stepped into the Ohio Senate campaign a week after the crypto super PAC Fairshake announced plans to spend $30 million against Brown. Fairshake is backed by major crypto players including Coinbase Global Inc. and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

The Winklevoss twins are each worth $2.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They launched their own pro-crypto super PAC in 2025 with a pledge to spend in favor of Republicans supporting President Donald Trump’s crypto agenda. They positioned themselves as a partisan alternative to Fairshake, which spends on behalf of candidates in both parties.

The Winklevoss twins have established themselves as major GOP donors this year. In August, they gave $10 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC. In total, they have given a combined $42.7 million in the 2026 midterm election cycle, with all of their money going towards Trump, their pro-crypto super PAC and Republican candidates.

The Digital Freedom Fund and the Winklevoss twins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another crypto group, Stand with Crypto, which is backed by Coinbase as well as the Winklevoss twins’ crypto company Gemini Space Station Inc., on Tuesday announced it is also endorsing Husted in the Ohio Senate race.

The crypto industry is banding together against Brown as part of a broader offensive against Senate Democrats after the party blocked industry-backed legislation that would set light-touch federal rules for digital assets. The legislation failed in part because Senate Democrats pushed for stronger ethics provisions preventing Trump from financially benefiting from his family’s crypto investments.

During his time in the Senate, Brown pushed for tougher regulations and strict government oversight of the crypto industry.

Brown has been leveraging the wave of opposition by the crypto industry to attract more donations from supporters. A pop-up on his website reads, “HELP NEEDED: Big Crypto is trying to sink our campaign.”