Does America Love Crypto? In the midst of a contentious Senate race, the Black Keys play an Ohio concert

The Black Keys, an ostensibly liberal indie rock duo, are set to play a concert in their home state of Ohio this week for a pro-crypto political outreach initiative—while affiliated crypto PACs are pouring tens of millions of dollars into the state. nailbiter Senate race to raise a controversial pro-MAGA Republican campaign.

On Friday night, the Black Keys are set to play A. Free show Show more food and drinks to the attendees in their hometown of Akron Stand with Crypto– A pro-crypto political organization launched by Coinbase.

The event is part of Stand Wise Crypto's “America Loves Crypto” series of bright and free concerts in swing states leading up to the US presidential election. Recent events in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit have enticed audiences with free entertainment and headline acts including The Chainsmokers and Big C.

The events, ostensibly designed to demonstrate the grassroots political strength of American crypto owners as a voting bloc, form just one arm of Coinbase's aggressive push to influence the 2024 election.

A crypto exchange along with a few other crypto-focused corporations, It was flooded In recent months, hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into super PACs—those that have spent record amounts in battleground House and Senate races that could decide control of Congress.

The largest of these PACs, FershakIn the year It has become the largest special interest funder in the 2024 election. Intimidation Well-heeled pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, for example, more than doubled.

While these groups have begun pouring money into dozens of races across the country, no election has drawn more money from PACs than Ohio's hotly contested Senate race. In that race—incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown is trying to fend off a challenge from pro-MAGA businessman Bernie Moreno—Coinbase-affiliated PACs have spent $40 million to flip the seat for Republicans.

The reason why the crypto lobby is determined to remove Brown is logical – he has been around for a long time Suspicious Digital assets, and industry fraud Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

But Brown's conservative challenger is not without controversy himself. Despite being an outspoken crypto advocate, Moreno, who is backed by Donald Trump, has attracted scrutiny in recent weeks. Doubling On a non-racially charged conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating neighbors' pets and stealing government services. Last month, the merchant also entered. Hot water Abortion has been a “non-issue” for women “for the past 50 years,” he said.

An event closely linked to Moreno's top fundraisers will therefore be of interest to the Black Keys, who have previously expressed commitment to liberation causes. Patrick Carney, the band's drummer, during an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast during the Trump presidency. It is described He and his frontman Dan Auerbach as “beautiful liberal mommies.”

It's unclear what prompted the group to play Friday's crypto-themed event in Ohio. The black keys are fun Crypto And NFTs promotional efforts for their last couple albums, but otherwise they don't seem to have made any real public announcements about digital assets.

But it's been a tough year for the rock duo. Earlier this summer, Keys canceled a national tour; It is reported Due to low ticket sales, and fired their managers. Twitter has since been deleted PostCarney said the team was “crazy,” but didn't elaborate.

Decrypt Black Keys reached out to Stand With Crypto about how much Black Keys was paid at Friday's “America Loves Crypto” event, but did not immediately receive a response.

The crypto lobby's heavy spending in the Ohio Senate race, meanwhile, appears to have paid off. While Brown led the race by more than six points this summer, Moreno has now almost completely erased that gap, leaving the race in a dead heat, according to the pollster. Five thirty eight.

And, in recent weeks, Fairshack has poured an additional $15 million into a fund set up to help Moreno, according to a new campaign finance filing. Records It was released on Sunday.

Edited by Andrew Hayward.