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Ahmed Barakat
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Cantor Fitzgerald has donated $10 million to Fellowship PAC, a crypto-focused super PAC chaired by Tether’s U.S. head of government affairs Jesse Spiro, according to Federal Election Commission filings disclosed Wednesday.
The donation comes at a moment when the line between traditional finance and crypto lobbying capital is becoming hard to define.
The headline number is large enough to matter. Whether it buys the regulatory outcomes the industry wants – and on what timeline – is the harder question.
- Donor: Cantor Fitzgerald committed $10 million to Fellowship PAC, disclosed in February FEC filings.
- Total raised: Wednesday’s FEC filing revealed $11 million in total contributions, including donations from other sources alongside Cantor’s $10 million.
- PAC leadership: Fellowship PAC is chaired by Jesse Spiro, Tether’s U.S. head of government affairs, and was established in 2025.
- Anchorage Digital: The digital asset bank separately contributed $1 million to Fellowship PAC.
- Spending to date: Fellowship has deployed $3 million on advocacy advertising and $1.5 million backing three Republican candidates, including Kentucky Senate candidate Nate Morris and Georgia Representative Clay Fuller.
- Cantor-Tether history: Cantor Fitzgerald has served as custodian for Tether’s reserve assets since 2021, making this donation an extension of an already entrenched institutional relationship.
- Political context: Fellowship PAC secured over $100 million in funding commitments ahead of the prior election cycle, positioning itself alongside rivals Fairshake and Defend American Jobs.
- Watch: FEC filings through 2025 and 2026 for additional commitments toward Fellowship’s $100 million goal and candidate endorsement patterns ahead of pivotal congressional sessions on crypto regulation.
How the Cantor-Fellowship Donation Actually Works, and What $10 Million Buys in Washington
A super PAC operates without contribution limits from corporations or individuals, provided it does not coordinate directly with candidates.
Fellowship PAC uses that structure to back pro-crypto candidates in federal races and fund issue-advocacy advertising – the $3 million already spent on advocacy ads is the clearest example of the latter in action.
Cantor Fitzgerald’s involvement is not a new relationship dressed up as political altruism. The firm has custodied Tether’s reserve assets since 2021, putting it at the center of the world’s most systemically significant stablecoin operation.
When Howard Lutnick, then Cantor’s CEO, now U.S. Secretary of Commerce, faced Senate confirmation hearings, lawmakers pressed him specifically on those crypto ties and their implications for liquidity markets and counter-terrorism financing policy.
Lutnick has since exited day-to-day operations; Cantor is now run by his sons. The $10 million donation follows that transition, which makes it a cleaner read on institutional intent rather than one executive’s personal calculus.
The firm is making a deliberate bet that pro-crypto regulatory outcomes in Washington are worth funding at scale.
The legislative target is not abstract. Congress is actively debating frameworks covering stablecoins and digital asset market structure under the CLARITY Act, and PAC money of this magnitude is aimed squarely at shaping who sits in the seats where those votes happen.
Anchorage Digital’s concurrent $1 million contribution to Fellowship signals the same logic from the crypto-native banking side.
The bullish read is straightforward: a $10 million check from a firm of Cantor’s standing signals that TradFi has moved from cautious observation to active political investment.
That is not the same as regulatory clarity arriving on any particular schedule. PAC spending influences candidate selection and creates political goodwill, it does not write legislation or guarantee floor votes.
