FEC Filing Outage Could Delay Crypto PAC Spending Disclosures

The Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) electronic filing outage could delay disclosure of crypto-aligned political spending in the final days before the 2026 midterms. Super PACs must report certain expenditures of $1,000 or more within 24 hours of using the funds.

The FEC reported an electronic filing system outage Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 3:48 p.m. ET (19:48 UTC). IT staff were working to restore service. Campaign-finance records already on the commission’s website remained available, but the outage could delay disclosure of new spending.

Five crypto-aligned super PACs had reported no expenditures since Sunday: Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, Protect Progress, Fellowship and Digital Freedom Fund.

Digital Freedom Fund disclosed more than $572,000 in text-message spending Sunday to support Republican Senate candidates, with most of the spending backing Ken Paxton’s Texas campaign. Protect Progress’ latest expenditure before the outage was more than $50,000 for direct mail supporting Rep. Aisha Wahab in California’s 14th District.

House and Senate candidates are expected to report contributions of $1,000 or more within 48 hours during the 20 days before an election.

The disruption comes as crypto-industry groups back candidates who support digital-asset legislation. Congress failed to advance a crypto market-structure bill in September, after which Fairshake and other industry advocates supported the reelection of lawmakers who voted for it.

Crypto-focused political spending has reached about $176 million across more than 100 U.S. midterm contests, and 53 of 58 Fairshake-backed candidates have advanced.