Thanedar left crypto holdings out of latest campaign finance report

Washington – Two-term Michigan U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar hasn’t filed a complete campaign finance report that discloses the value of his congressional campaign’s crypto investments covering the first three months of the year.

When asked about the omission, Thanedar told The Detroit News last week by text that he intended to file an amendment to update his April 15 filing with the Federal Election Commission; however, he hasn’t done so more than a week later.

Thanedar said Friday he’s expecting a revised report on Wednesday.

The Detroit News first reported on how the millionaire businessman in 2023 took nearly $4 million in cash from his campaign and invested it in a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund – a move that campaign finance experts say is rare and financially risky, though allowed under federal law.

Each quarter since, the congressman had been reporting the gains and losses from the crypto holdings on his quarterly FEC report, including a posted a loss of $1.87 million for the fourth quarter of 2025. That meant his Democratic primary rival, state Rep. Donavan McKinney of Detroit, outraised him during that period.

Thanedar’s report filed last week says he had about $66,700 in receipts, including $45,000 from individual contributions; spent about $38,000; and closed with $6.4 million cash on hand as of March 30.

But until Thanedar files the amended report to reflect his campaign’s crypto investments, it’s unclear to the public how much the congressman’s campaign account actually holds in cash reserves.

Thanedar is expected to face multiple Democratic challengers in the August primary election, including Rep. McKinney, who reported bringing in $245,840 during last quarter and reported about $458,670 in the bank.

Others who filed to run for Thanedar’s seat by Tuesday’s deadline include Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters and John Goci, both Democrats, as well as Republicans Martell Bivings, Raphiel King, and T.P. Nykoriak.

Thanedar has long said that he spends very little time fundraising, preferring instead to personally invest in his campaign so that he can focus on his job in Congress.

Investing campaign money is generally legal under federal campaign election regulations, which allow political committees to transfer funds for investment purposes to other accounts. The invested funds must be returned or transferred to the campaign account before they may be used to make campaign expenditures under Federal Election Commission rules.

Thanedar has said he would cash out when he needs the money for his reelection campaign. In the meantime, a benefit of the crypto investment is that he can skip long hours of calling campaign donors to raise money. His campaign reported about $17,000 in fundraising expenses last quarter.

Thanedar represents the 13th Congressional District that covers parts of Detroit, Downriver communities, and the Grosse Pointes. (mbrike@detroitnews.com)