Former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown could chair a Senate committee with digital-asset oversight after Ohio voters returned him to the chamber and Democrats regained control in the Nov. 3 election.
Brown defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted. Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-focused political action committee, directed $30 million toward the Ohio race, targeting Brown.
With Democrats in control, Brown may become chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Its remit includes both digital assets and prediction markets.
Fairshake spent $12 million backing Republican challenger Bernie Moreno in 2024; Moreno defeated Brown. Husted supported several cryptocurrency bills, including the Clarity Act, and earned an A rating from Stand With Crypto, a crypto advocacy group.
Brown received an F from the group and previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee. He had called for action against cryptocurrency use to finance terrorism or evade sanctions.
Brown’s campaign linked Husted’s support for data-center development to higher household bills, though EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the power-cost debate said that connection had not been established. Husted supports legislation aimed at assigning new grid-infrastructure costs to large data centers.
