FEC outage may hide crypto PAC spending before midterms

The Federal Election Commission’s electronic filing system went offline Tuesday after reports that hackers targeted its website, potentially delaying disclosures of spending by political action committees and other groups before the 2026 midterm elections.

The FEC reported an “electronic filing system outage” and said its staff were working to restore service. Previously filed campaign finance records remained available for public viewing, but groups could not immediately submit new filings through the system.

Super PACs must report expenditures of at least $1,000 within 24 hours of using the funds. House and Senate candidates must report contributions of $1,000 or more within 48 hours during the 20 days before an election. The outage occurred six days before Election Day, when campaign spending typically increases.

The FEC did not identify those responsible for the disruption. An agency spokesperson said its information technology staff were “actively working to restore service.”

The latest available filings showed no expenditures since Sunday from the crypto-aligned groups Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, Protect Progress, Fellowship and Digital Freedom Fund.

Digital Freedom Fund, a political action committee launched by Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, reported Sunday that it had spent more than $572,000 on text messages supporting Republican Senate candidates. Most of the spending supported Ken Paxton’s campaign in Texas.

Protect Progress’ latest filing before the outage showed more than $50,000 spent on a direct-mail campaign supporting Representative Aisha Wahab in California’s 14th Congressional District.

The 2026 elections are being followed by the crypto industry as lawmakers consider digital-asset legislation. Congress failed to advance a crypto market-structure bill in September. Fairshake and other industry-backed groups then supported lawmakers who had voted for the legislation.

Ohio has drawn substantial spending from crypto-aligned PACs. Before the outage, Fairshake reported $56 million in media spending opposing former Senator Sherrod Brown and supporting Republican Senator Jon Husted. Digital Freedom Fund disclosed more than $7 million in spending connected to the race.

Fairshake spent about $41 million opposing Brown’s reelection campaign in 2024, when Republican Bernie Moreno defeated Brown. Brown is seeking to return to the Senate in 2026 and is challenging Husted. Democratic- and Republican-aligned groups have also reported spending tens of millions of dollars in Ohio.