Who Put Him There

Bought by Big CryptoHow Silicon Valley Billionaires Picked Alabama's Congressman

Before a single Alabama voter knew his name, out-of-state crypto billionaires spent $2.7 million to make Shomari Figures a household name in District 2. Their ads never mentioned cryptocurrency. Here's the story they didn't want you to know.

$2.7M

Crypto PAC Spending

80%

Of All Pro-Figures Ads

Ads Mentioning Crypto

$193M

FairShake War Chest

The Playbook

How a Crypto Super PAC Bought a Congressional Seat

In 2024, Alabama's 2nd Congressional District was redrawn by federal court order. It was an open seat — no incumbent, a crowded Democratic primary, and national attention. The crypto industry saw an opportunity.

Protect Progress, a super PAC created just eight months earlier in Washington, D.C., swooped into Alabama and spent nearly $2.7 million on TV ads, mailers, and digital advertising for one candidate: Shomari Figures, a Washington insider who had only recently registered to vote in Alabama — and who had just purchased a $1.2 million home in Bethesda, Maryland.

Protect Progress is the Democratic arm of FairShake, the largest super PAC in America, funded almost entirely by three crypto giants: Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Together they've poured over $190 million into picking members of Congress — from both parties — who will do their bidding on crypto regulation.

The Bait and Switch

Here's what makes this different from normal political spending: the ads never mentioned cryptocurrency. Not once. According to the Washington Post, FairShake and its affiliates ran "30-second spots that are largely biographical in nature, omitting any reference to crypto." They talked about healthcare, jobs, and Alabama families. They sounded like local ads. They weren't. They were a $2.7 million infomercial produced by Silicon Valley billionaires to install a congressman who would protect their industry from regulation.

Crypto's $2.7 million amounted to nearly 80 percent of all spending on pro-Figures ads in the election. He was outspent by his own benefactors.

Source: CNN, citing ad spending data through April 2024

Follow the Money

The Money Trail: Silicon Valley → DC → Alabama

Crypto Corporations

$128M+

Coinbase, Ripple, a16z

→

Super PAC Network

FairShake

+ Protect Progress

→

Alabama District 2

$2.7M

Ads for Figures

Who Bankrolled FairShake

Donor	What They Are	Total to FairShake
Coinbase	Crypto exchange — faced federal scrutiny over business practices	$56M+
Ripple Labs	Blockchain company — fought SEC enforcement action	$48M+
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)	Silicon Valley venture capital — $7.6 billion invested in crypto	$24M+
Marc Andreessen	Billionaire VC co-founder — personal donations	$12M+
Ben Horowitz	Billionaire VC co-founder — personal donations	$12M+

These are not Alabama companies. Not one of these donors lives in District 2, employs people in the Black Belt, or sends their kids to Alabama schools. They are Silicon Valley billionaires and multinational corporations who want one thing: congressmen who will block crypto regulation.

The Return on Investment

What Crypto Got for Its $2.7 Million

Figures' end of the deal was clear from the beginning. His campaign website promised he would "embrace the new landscape around digital assets, like cryptocurrency, to stimulate innovation and technological advancement." That single sentence was worth $2.7 million in outside spending.

When asked about Protect Progress, Figures claimed "there have been no promises made." But the crypto industry doesn't spend $2.7 million without expectations. They have a track record: they crushed Democratic Rep. Katie Porter in California after she pushed for crypto regulation. They targeted Sherrod Brown in Ohio. They go after anyone — Democrat or Republican — who threatens their industry.

What Crypto Spent on Figures

$2.7 Million

TV ads, mailers, digital media — none mentioning crypto. Just "healthcare" and "Alabama families" produced by a DC super PAC created eight months prior.

What All of Alabama Gave Him

$61,965

Total itemized contributions from all Alabama donors in 2025. One crypto super PAC outspent his entire home state by 43-to-1.

Even Democrats Objected

"There's a Fly in the Buttermilk"

It wasn't just Republicans who saw the problem. Prominent Alabama Democrats raised the alarm about crypto money flooding into District 2 before the primary.

March 1, 2024

Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed writes formal letter

Reed asked Party Chairman Randy Kelley to investigate Figures' candidacy, calling the crypto spending evidence that outside forces were trying to "buy or steal" the election. He wrote: "The Democratic Party should not stand idly by and let the crooks, thugs, and thieves steal the election from us."

March 4, 2024

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley raises concerns

"I think it's very problematic that you have these candidates who are supposed to be representing a Democratic district, predominantly Black, and accepting money from Republicans. There's a fly in the buttermilk. Because the Republicans can't win the district, then it looks like what they are trying to do is buy the candidates."

March 5, 2024

Figures wins the first round with $1.7M in crypto backing

With crypto outspending every other advertiser in the race, Figures takes 43.5% and advances to the runoff.

April 16, 2024

Protect Progress spending hits $2.7M. Figures wins runoff with 61%.

Crypto PAC spending accounted for the vast majority of all pro-Figures advertising. His own campaign raised about $400,000 — less than his chief opponent, Anthony Daniels. The crypto money was the difference.

Figures raised less than his opponent.
The crypto PAC made up the difference — and then some.
$2.7 million bought Alabama a congressman it never asked for.

The Bigger Picture

$193 Million and Counting

Alabama wasn't a one-off. FairShake is the single largest super PAC in American politics, and it's now sitting on a $193 million war chest for the 2026 midterms. They're already spending — including $5 million on Barry Moore's Senate primary in Alabama right now, through the Republican-aligned "Defend American Jobs" arm.

The playbook is always the same. They pick candidates on both sides who will be friendly to crypto. They flood races with ads that never mention crypto, blockchain, or digital assets. They talk about "innovation" and "jobs" and "American leadership" — code words for blocking regulation of an industry built on the same speculative schemes that sent FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried to prison for 25 years.

The FairShake Network

FairShake — the main super PAC. $193M for 2026.
Protect Progress — backs Democrats. Spent $2.7M on Figures.
Defend American Jobs — backs Republicans. Currently spending $5M on Barry Moore's Senate race.

Same donors. Same money. Same goal: congressmen who won't regulate crypto. They don't care about party. They care about protection.

Their mission statement says it all: they support candidates "committed to securing the United States as the home to innovators building the next generation of the internet." Translation: they want lawmakers who will let the crypto industry police itself — the same industry that produced the largest fraud conviction in American financial history.

The Bottom Line

Alabama's 2nd District congressman wasn't chosen by Alabama. He was chosen by Coinbase, Ripple, and two Silicon Valley billionaires who spent $2.7 million on ads that never once mentioned the product they're selling.

They bought the ads. They bought the seat.
Now they expect the votes.

All data sourced from Federal Election Commission filings, OpenSecrets.org, CNN, Washington Post, CoinDesk, Alabama Today, and Lagniappe Mobile.
FairShake PAC: C00835959 | Protect Progress PAC: C00835942 | Committee to Elect Shomari Figures: C00856237