Crypto's political machine keeps getting bigger, and now it's getting more specialized. A brand-new political action committee called Defend Developers PAC launched Wednesday with a pretty specific mandate: back the lawmakers who are willing to fight for legal protections for the people actually writing blockchain code.

 

The group describes itself as the first hybrid PAC focused exclusively on American crypto developers, DeFi builders, and blockchain technologists. It was federally registered just last month, and its founders say they plan to put six figures or more into dozens of congressional races before November.

 

Who's Behind It

The PAC was founded by Gavin Zavatone, who also serves as policy lead at the DeFi Education Fund, a trade group that lobbies for DeFi-friendly regulation in Washington. The board pulls together names from across the industry: Uniswap Labs, the Solana Policy Institute, the American Innovation Project, and Orca Creative all have representation.

 

"We plan to raise and contribute more than six figures across dozens of key races in the midterms, because crypto technologists deserve champions in Congress who will go to bat for them," Zavatone said in a statement. No specific dollar amounts have been disclosed yet regarding the PAC's initial funding, but the stated plan is to draw contributions primarily from crypto founders, CEOs, and builders who have a direct stake in how DeFi regulation shakes out.

 

A Different Kind of Strategy

What sets Defend Developers apart is who it plans to back. Rather than looking for new candidates to anoint or taking shots at incumbents it dislikes, the group says it will focus its money on lawmakers who are already in Congress and already working on these issues. The theory is that incumbent support carries more weight in shaping actual legislation, especially when that legislation, namely the Clarity Act, is still actively being negotiated.

 

Developer protections have emerged as one of the trickier sticking points in the Clarity Act talks. The bill, which cleared the Senate Banking Committee earlier this year with bipartisan support, still needs to navigate several unresolved issues before it can reach a floor vote. Defend Developers PAC is betting that funneling money toward lawmakers who are already shaping those negotiations is smarter than trying to build from scratch.

 

A Crowded Field With One Clear Leader

Let's be clear about where Defend Developers sits in the broader crypto PAC landscape: it's not challenging Fairshake anytime soon. The industry's dominant super PAC, backed by Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Ripple, entered 2026 with north of $191 million in its war chest and has been racking up wins all cycle.

 

Just this week, Fairshake went 11-for-11 in Tuesday's primaries, backing nine Democratic House candidates in California, one in New Jersey, and Republican Senator Mike Rounds in South Dakota. All of them won. That follows a dominant performance in Texas last week, where crypto-aligned PACs spent more than $9 million across both parties and delivered a notable defeat to Rep. Al Green, a longtime critic of the industry, who lost his seat to Christian Menefee. Fairshake has spent $6.5 million on that race alone.

 

The new PAC also doesn't yet rival mid-tier players like the Fellowship PAC, which is tied to Tether, or the Digital Freedom Fund, connected to Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss at Gemini. But it's also not trying to. Defend Developers is playing a narrower game, and that might actually be the point.

 

What To Expect Heading Into November

The launch of another crypto PAC is one more sign of just how much the industry has matured as a political force. Lobbying groups have reportedly spent well over $271 million swaying electoral outcomes since the start of 2026 alone, largely through advertising. The latest addition to that landscape signals that crypto's political operation is growing more specialized, not just bigger.

 

The Blockchain Association also organized a Washington fly-in this week, bringing former national security and law enforcement officials to Capitol Hill for briefings with staff from roughly 18 Senate offices. A virtual town hall with lawmakers was also scheduled for Thursday. The coordination across lobbying groups, PACs, and trade organizations is about as sophisticated as it's ever been.

 

With prediction markets roughly split on which party controls Congress after November, the crypto industry's bipartisan strategy is starting to look less like a compromise and more like a deliberate hedge. The general election stakes are high, and groups like Defend Developers are clearly trying to make sure that regardless of who wins, there will be friendly faces in the room when the serious DeFi legislation gets written.