Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Bernie Moreno addresses supporters at Brecksville Community Center on November 4, 2024 in Brecksville, Ohio.
Stephen Maturen | Getty Images Crypto fans are celebrating the results of the Ohio Senate race, where blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno has defeated Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown, a three-term incumbent, in a contest that was key in the battle for control of the U.S. Senate.
Some $40 million of crypto money was directed at defeating Brown, with one PAC paying for five ads designed to boost awareness of Moreno, a businessman who worked as a luxury car dealer and had virtually no name recognition going into the contest. The race was also a litmus test for whether the more than $245 million raised by the crypto industry this cycle would prove effective at the ballot box. The Ohio contest drew more ad spending than any Senate race in history, and was the biggest single target of crypto money this cycle.
Brown was unpopular with crypto fans, in part because he backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren , D-Mass., in holding hearings on whether digital tokens were tied to terrorism.
He voted against pro-crypto legislation, called for more regulation of the sector, and regularly posted anti-crypto rhetoric on social media. Ripple's billionaire co-founder Chris Larsen told CNBC Tuesday night that Brown's loss is "more fallout from the disastrous decision by President Joe Biden to outsource financial regulation to Sen. Warren.
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