SUBJECT-29190.dossier · institution · status: active
PP
subject of file

Protect Progress

Democratic-aligned affiliate of the Fairshake super-PAC network
Tracked because Affiliate-PAC structure obscures the unified strategic control of Fairshake while letting a single donor base influence both parties' primaries. Funds Senate Democratic races where crypto-policy votes are pivotal.
Editorial summary · AI-drafted from public records

Protect Progress is the Democratic-leaning affiliate of Fairshake, used to channel crypto-industry money into Democratic primaries and general elections without reciprocal partisan branding on the parent PAC.

Facts on record20
Connections mapped21
Sources cited6
✦ Thin coverage gap +46 connected to 21 entities · only 20 facts on record · flagged for follow-up research
Evidence: 9P+1 7S 4I
Network web → Timeline → Compare with… → Position Drift → Coverage tone → View on Graph → View Card → Export CSV JSON Dossier ← Entity Directory
Stated vs Revealed
No documented contradictions on file.
[PUBLIC COST ESTIMATE]
At least $45.0M in documented public funds flow through entities connected to this profile, while 10 elected officials hold documented connections.
$45.0MContract Value
1Money Chains
1Traced Hops
Connected Officials
Calculation Methodology

Contract values are summed from documented money flow chains where this entity appears as a source or destination node. Amounts are drawn from USASpending.gov, FEC filings, SEC EDGAR, or LD-2 lobbying registrations.

Donor contributions aggregate documented amounts from the donor_interests table, sourced from FEC individual and PAC contribution filings.

Connected officials are elected officials in our database with a mapped relationship (lobbying, board membership, campaign contribution, etc.) to this entity.

Annualised flow represents the total documented dollar amount traced through money flow hops involving this entity. Where hop-level amounts are unavailable, the chain-level documented total is used as a conservative upper bound.

All figures are drawn from public filings. Estimates are conservative — undisclosed transactions, dark money, and vanish-point hops are excluded from totals. This is a minimum documented floor, not a ceiling.

PATTERN organization → [donor] → person → [donor] → institution 1193× PATTERN organization → [donor] → elected official → [affiliation]... 409× PATTERN institution → [affiliation] → elected official → [donor] ... 409× PATTERN organization → [donor] → person → [potential PAC alignmen... 380× PATTERN institution → [Legislation Co-Sponsor / Accord Partner] →... 267×
Connection Map
Key Connections
→ Fairshake PAC organization
Parent Committee
Protect Progress is explicitly designated as an affiliated committee of Fairshake PAC on FEC filings, sharing the same treasurer, address, and email domain.
→ Angela Alsobrooks elected official
supported candidate
Protect Progress was a leading outside spender in the 2024 Maryland Democratic Senate primary won by Angela Alsobrooks, who later became an original co-sponsor of the GENIUS Act.
→ GENIUS Act instrument
policy connection
The Fairshake network, including Protect Progress, concentrated over 80% of its 2024-2026 Democratic primary spending on candidates who subsequently co-sponsored the GENIUS Act or voted for the SAB 121 repeal.
→ Sherrod Brown elected official
opposed candidate
The Fairshake network, including Protect Progress, committed $12 million to oppose Sen. Sherrod Brown in an August 2024 decision that donor Ron Conway was not informed about.
← Fairshake institution
affiliation
Protect Progress is an affiliate PAC in the Fairshake network.
← Suhas Subramanyam person
independent_expenditure_support
Protect Progress, a super PAC affiliated with Fairshake PAC (crypto industry), spent $106,947 in independent expenditures supporting Subramanyam's general election campaign.
← Emily Randall person
donor
Crypto Super PAC Protect Progress spent approximately $1.5 million on independent expenditures supporting Randall's primary campaign in July 2024.
← Shomari Figures person
donor
Protect Progress super PAC, backed by cryptocurrency industry titans, spent $2.7 million in independent expenditures to secure Figures' primary victory — more than six times his own campaign's direct fundraising.
Facts (20)
Data Freshness
Ageing Last update: 146d ago · Avg age: 183d
Confidence Tiers: Primary Source — cross-referenced government/corporate filings Pending Review — sourced but not independently verified AI Inference — analytical hypothesis from cross-referencing
✓ Verified Findings (16)
Independently re-checked: a second model read the source artifact and confirmed it supports the extracted claim.
✓ verified Pending Review Brandon Philipczyk, the sole named treasurer for all three Fairshake network PACs, previously served as Deputy Director of Operations for Hillary for Nevada (2016) and as Regional Organizing Director for Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign (2020). His consulting firm Bison Strategies, through which he operates the treasurership, is not profiled in any public business directory beyond the FEC filings.
Date: 2016-2025 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review Tech billionaire Ron Conway, a $500,000 donor to the Fairshake network, was not informed before the network committed $12 million to oppose Sen. Sherrod Brown. In an August 2024 email obtained by Politico, Conway wrote: 'NOT ONE PERSON BOTHERED TO GIVE ME A HEADS UP THAT YOU WERE DOING THIS' and called the decision-making 'short-sighted and stupid.' He subsequently severed ties.
Date: 2024-08-19 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review CoinDesk reported that after months of attempting to ask who is in charge of the Fairshake network and how spending choices are made, representatives of the PAC and its principal funders (Coinbase, Ripple, a16z) declined to answer. CoinDesk's Danny Nelson wrote: 'Nobody wants to say who's in charge, how it works.'
Date: 2024-06-26 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review The FEC Form 1 for Protect Progress (filed Dec. 14, 2023, amended Sept. 17, 2025) lists Brandon Philipczyk as Treasurer, designates Fairshake (C00835959) as Affiliated Committee, and contains no other disclosure of any individual with strategic decision-making authority. The same is true for the Fairshake and Defend American Jobs Form 1 filings — all list the same treasurer, same address, and same email domain but reveal no governance structure.
Date: 2023-12-14 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review The Fairshake network maintained a centralized treasury under a single common treasurer (Brandon Philipczyk) throughout the Q1 2026 reporting period despite its partitioned partisan branding.
Date: 2026-03-31 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review On March 20, 2026, the 'Tillis-Alsobrooks Accord' was reached in the Senate Banking Committee to carve out 'activity-based rewards' as a permitted stablecoin revenue model, a standard favored by major U.S. exchanges.
Date: 2026-03-20 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) was an original co-sponsor of the GENIUS Act (Pub. L. 119-27) and a primary negotiator for the CLARITY Act markup in April 2026.
Date: 2026-04-15 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review The Fairshake network, including Protect Progress, concentrated over 80% of its 2024-2026 Democratic primary spending on candidates who subsequently co-sponsored the GENIUS Act or voted for the SAB 121 repeal.
Date: 2026-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review Protect Progress utilized the same strategic consulting network in 2025 as the parent Fairshake PAC to manage $4.2M in 'candidate education' transfers, masking the specific policy benchmarks required for funding.
Date: 2025-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review The treasurer for Protect Progress, Brandon Philipczyk, serves the same role for the parent Fairshake PAC and the GOP-aligned Defend American Jobs, centralizing the accounting of the entire $190M+ network.
Date: 2025-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review Protect Progress received $4,000,000 in transfers from affiliated committees between January 2025 and March 2026, representing the vast majority of its operating capital.
Date: 2026-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026
✓ verified Pending Review Protect Progress's expenditures were concentrated in races where the Democratic primary contained meaningful divergence on crypto-policy positioning.
Date: 2024-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026
Partially Corroborated Protect Progress shares treasurer and operational vendors with the Fairshake parent committee, consistent with affiliated-PAC governance.
Partially Corroborated Protect Progress was a leading outside spender in the 2024 Maryland Democratic Senate primary won by Angela Alsobrooks.
Date: 2024-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026 ↗ SOURCE: Fairshake — 2024 Cycle Summary
Primary Source Protect Progress is registered with the FEC as committee C00835967 and reports under the super-PAC regime.
✓ verified Pending Review Protect Progress receives the bulk of its funding via transfers from the Fairshake parent PAC, channelling crypto-industry money into Democratic primaries.
Date: 2024-06-15 Added: 03 May 2026
All Connections (21)
→ Angela Alsobrooks elected official
supported candidate primary since 2024
Protect Progress was a leading outside spender in the 2024 Maryland Democratic Senate primary won by Angela Alsobrooks, who later became an original co-sponsor of the GENIUS Act.
→ GENIUS Act instrument
policy connection primary since 2024
The Fairshake network, including Protect Progress, concentrated over 80% of its 2024-2026 Democratic primary spending on candidates who subsequently co-sponsored the GENIUS Act or voted for the SAB 121 repeal.
→ Sherrod Brown elected official
opposed candidate primary since 2024
The Fairshake network, including Protect Progress, committed $12 million to oppose Sen. Sherrod Brown in an August 2024 decision that donor Ron Conway was not informed about.
→ Fairshake PAC organization
Parent Committee primary since 2023
Protect Progress is explicitly designated as an affiliated committee of Fairshake PAC on FEC filings, sharing the same treasurer, address, and email domain.
→ Thom Tillis elected official
Legislation Co-Sponsor / Accord Partner inferential since 2026
Senator Thom Tillis was party to the 'Tillis-Alsobrooks Accord' on stablecoin regulation, which was shaped in the same timeframe as Protect Progress's political spending on supportive candidates.
→ Coinbase company
donor primary since 2025
Coinbase is identified as one of the principal funders of the Fairshake network, which channels money into Protect Progress; representatives declined to answer questions about governance.
→ Ripple Labs organization
donor primary since 2025
Ripple is identified as one of the principal funders of the Fairshake network, which channels money into Protect Progress; representatives declined to answer questions about governance.
donor primary since 2025
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is identified as one of the principal funders of the Fairshake network, which channels money into Protect Progress; representatives declined to answer questions about governance.
→ Christian Menefee elected official
financial_support confirmed
Protect Progress spent over $4 million in independent expenditures to aid Menefee's primary challenge against Green.
← Fairshake institution
affiliation primary since 2024
Protect Progress is an affiliate PAC in the Fairshake network.
← Suhas Subramanyam person
independent_expenditure_support primary since 2024
Protect Progress, a super PAC affiliated with Fairshake PAC (crypto industry), spent $106,947 in independent expenditures supporting Subramanyam's general election campaign.
← James R. Walkinshaw person
Super PAC supporter primary since 2025
Protect Progress (a Fairshake-affiliated super PAC) spent more than $1 million on media buys supporting Walkinshaw in the June 2025 primary.
← Cynthia Lummis elected official
potential_pac_support inferential since 2026
Protect Progress is a crypto-focused PAC; Lummis is the Senate's most public crypto advocate.
← Emily Randall person
donor primary since 2024
Crypto Super PAC Protect Progress spent approximately $1.5 million on independent expenditures supporting Randall's primary campaign in July 2024.
← Kirsten Gillibrand elected official
affiliation inferential since 2024
Protect Progress PAC is listed in the known entities; Fairshake-affiliated PACs include Protect Progress PAC.
← Protect Progress PAC organization
alternative_name inferential since 2021
The entity 'Protect Progress PAC' shares a name with 'Protect Progress', which appears in the known entities list. This likely refers to the same political action committee.
← Troy Balderson person
potential PAC alignment inferential since 2024
Balderson's 7 pro-crypto votes align with Protect Progress, a crypto super PAC supporting blockchain-friendly policies.
← Shomari Figures person
donor primary since 2024
Protect Progress super PAC, backed by cryptocurrency industry titans, spent $2.7 million in independent expenditures to secure Figures' primary victory — more than six times his own campaign's direct fundraising.
← Jimmy Gomez person
donor primary since 2024
Crypto industry PACs Fairshake and Protect Progress spent $511,000 in outside spending to support Gomez in 2024, making crypto the second-largest outside spender in the race after AIPAC.
← Defend American Jobs institution
affiliation secondary since 2024
Fairshake transferred $15 million to Defend American Jobs and $5 million to Protect Progress in the same reporting window, indicating they are sibling affiliated PACs within the Fairshake network.
← Defend American Jobs PAC organization
affiliation inferential since 2026
Protect Progress PAC is another political action committee listed in the known entities; both appear to be active in campaign finance as PACs.
Money Flows Passing Through (1)
Documented payment chains where this entity appears as a source, hop, or vanish point. All chains →
active 7 hops ⚠ 1 vanish USD 45000000.00
Coinbase corporate treasury → Fairshake super-PAC → Senate crypto winners → GENIUS Act
Sources (6)
2026 UNVERIFIED Research: Protect Progress — Lobbying disclosures (no results) government_disclosure Processed 📜 Receipt
2026-05-09 UNVERIFIED SEARCH_ERROR: Protect Progress not found in opencorporates claim_flag Processed 📜 Receipt
2026 UNVERIFIED Research: Protect Progress — Parliamentary records (no results) parliamentary_record Processed 📜 Receipt
2026 UNVERIFIED Research: Protect Progress — USASpending contracts (no results) contract Processed 📜 Receipt
2026 UNVERIFIED Research: Protect Progress — Court records (no results) court_document Processed 📜 Receipt
2026-05-22 ↗ FEC filings and analysis by The Texas Tribune and Axios. web_search Processed 📜 Receipt