FBI Foils Drone Plot at Crypto-Backed UFC Event as PAC Pours $12M Into Alabama Race

Crypto News

Federal authorities said Tuesday they disrupted an alleged plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event staged Sunday on the White House South Lawn, unsealing criminal complaints against five men. Prosecutors allege Tycen Proper of Ohio, Daniel Eskridge of Missouri, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska, and California residents Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas planned to deploy explosive-laden drones to scatter attendees before shooters targeted politicians and other high-value figures. FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau became aware of the threat on June 10, and that a rapid multi-state operation placed multiple suspects in custody before any attack could proceed, halting what investigators described as a coordinated assault on the venue.

The card doubled as one of the year’s largest crypto marketing showcases, drawing sponsorships and promotions from Crypto.com, Exodus, World Liberty Financial, and Polymarket. Organizers staged a $1 million CRO altcoin token bonus pool alongside $250,000 in USD1 stablecoins tied to the event, while branded promotions and on-site giveaways functioned much like a live airdrop for attendees. The crowd included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, placing the industry’s biggest brands directly in front of the political establishment.

Court filings detail how the alleged conspiracy took shape online. According to the affidavit, Proper told investigators that a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old” began communicating in March before shifting discussions to the encrypted messaging app Signal. The group allegedly planned to gather in Fredericksburg, Virginia, then travel to Washington, where drones carrying explosives would detonate over the venue. Prosecutors say the suspects voiced grievances spanning government corruption, the Epstein files, and the buildout of AI data centers, framing the UFC gathering of senior officials and tech executives as a deliberate target for a multi-pronged strike.

In a separate test of crypto’s political muscle, Defend American Jobs, the industry-backed political action committee affiliated with Fairshake, reported spending more than $4.7 million on media supporting Republican Barry Moore in Alabama’s Tuesday Senate primary runoff. That outlay adds to roughly $7.4 million the PAC reported ahead of the May 20 primary, bringing its total commitment above $12 million. Moore, who carries Trump’s endorsement, is facing fellow Republican Jared Hudson for the seat being vacated by Tommy Tuberville, who is forgoing reelection to run for governor of Alabama, federal election filings show.

The contest carries clear policy stakes for the sector. The Coinbase-affiliated advocacy group Stand With Crypto rated Moore as strongly supportive of digital-asset policy, citing his voting record, while grading Hudson as neutral. Hudson publicly acknowledged that what he called “Big Crypto” did not back his campaign, though he said he supports the market structure legislation now moving through the US Senate. The spending underscores how exchange-linked groups are increasingly willing to finance favored candidates well before a general election, treating primaries as the decisive arena for shaping a crypto-friendly congressional bench.

The Alabama push is one piece of a far larger war chest. Fairshake reported holding $193 million as of January, and affiliated committees are lining up stakes in additional races this month, including roughly $5 million backing Democrat Adrian Boafo in Maryland and about $500,000 supporting Ritchie Torres in New York. The Blockchain Leadership Fund, backed by Anchorage Digital and Chainlink, announced support for Moore in May, while the Fellowship PAC—funded with $11 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage—disclosed $350,000 in spending on his behalf, signaling coordinated industry effort across multiple jurisdictions.

Read together, the two storylines show how deeply crypto has woven itself into America’s political and cultural mainstream—visible enough to headline a White House sporting spectacle and to bankroll Senate primaries nationwide. Yet that prominence contrasts sharply with current sentiment in the underlying market. COINOTAG’s aggregate data places the Fear & Greed Index at 23 of 100, squarely in extreme-fear territory, with Bitcoin dominance elevated at 69.8% as capital concentrates in the largest asset. With total crypto market capitalization near $1.89 trillion—well below its all-time high and reflecting a defensive, risk-off bear-market posture—the industry’s rising influence in Washington is advancing even as on-chain investors stay cautious.