Warren to take anti-crypto crusade to Minnesota after win in Illinois

• A Warren-endorsed candidate — Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton — won the Illinois Senate Democratic primary Tuesday, despite a major pro-crypto PAC spending nearly $10 million opposing her campaign.
• Warren campaigned for Stratton — who was significantly outspent by her primary rival, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) — in Chicago last weekend. Warren also used her expansive digital fundraising list to raise money for Stratton.
• Other Democratic candidates should look at Stratton's win as a cautionary tale about the consequences of "embracing the deregulatory demands of the crypto industry," a Warren ally told Axios.

The big picture: Warren, the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, has established herself as a leading crypto industry foe in Congress. Now she's taking the battle to the Senate Democratic primaries.

• Warren has also endorsed Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the state's Aug. 11 primary. Flanagan is facing off against Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who has received high marks from the crypto industry.
• Craig got an "A" rating from Stand With Crypto, a group that assigns grades to lawmakers based on their friendliness to the industry. Flanagan received an "F."

• Stratton was also given an "F" by Stand With Crypto. Krishnamoorthi got an "A."

Between the lines: A Warren political adviser told Axios that the senator "is not going to let dark-money groups handpick compliant members of Congress to further rig the system in favor of the wealthy and well-connected."

• Warren has opposed two of the major bills moving through Congress to regulate cryptocurrency and set market structure: the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act.
• Warren argued those measures deregulated the crypto economy and didn't do enough to protect against scammers, criminals and terrorism financiers.