SPRINGFIELD — Months before Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim announced her bid for Illinois comptroller, she used about $8,300 in previously contributed campaign funds to invest in a cryptocurrency she founded called CHKN token — a digital asset inspired by her backyard flock of chickens.
By the end of 2025, the investment — totaling roughly 8.87 million tokens — had lost nearly all its value, dropping to just $34.59, according to filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Kim, a Democrat seeking to succeed Comptroller Susana Mendoza as the state’s chief fiscal officer, said the loss should not be viewed as a reflection of her ability to oversee Illinois’ finances. Instead, she described the investment as a learning experience that reflected her efforts to better understand emerging financial technologies.
“I’m someone who learns things by doing, and this is, you know, entirely why I would have converted crypto into a token, because, you know, it depends what’s popular,” Kim said in an interview late last month with the Tribune about the investment. “But voters can absolutely trust me because I’m trying to stay on top and learn about emerging industries.”
“No government money was spent. No (regular) dollars were turned into the crypto and no personal money was spent on that crypto,” she said, adding that the decision was comparable to a campaign choosing to invest in traditional financial instruments.
Kim’s campaign contribution loss has put a spotlight on cryptocurrencies in the battle for Illinois comptroller, one of the bigger statewide races in 2026 following Mendoza’s decision last year not to run for a fourth term. In addition to Kim’s issue with crypto, comptroller candidate Margaret Croke, a Democratic state representative from Chicago, introduced legislation years ago to benefit and regulate the crypto industry.
Both issues have led to Kim and Croke criticizing each other over the topic, with a Croke spokesperson hammering Kim for the “botched” crypto investment and saying, “It’s abundantly clear Illinoisans can’t afford her failed leadership,” while Kim argues Croke’s bill, which did not pass, could have benefited Croke’s husband’s law firm.
Unlike the state treasurer, who is responsible for investing state funds, the state comptroller manages the state’s finances, pays its bills and serves as a fiscal watchdog to ensure payments comply with the law.
Kim’s campaign rejected suggestions that CHKN token’s loss in value raises concerns about her stewardship of public funds. As Lake County treasurer, Kim oversees the investment of county revenues, and her campaign officials said she produced strong returns in that role and reinvested revenue generated from interest on investments in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
“In those two years, through smart investing, Holly was able to give back over $6M to taxpayers to fund schools, parks and libraries,” a Kim campaign spokesperson said.
In addition to Kim and Croke, two others seeking the Democratic nomination for comptroller in the March 17 primary are state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego and state Sen. Karina Villa of West Chicago.
Underscoring the importance — and occasionally the silliness — of the crypto issue in the race, Kim on Wednesday put out a short, lighthearted campaign video on Instagram about her CHKN token, saying, “The rumors are true” about her starting her own cryptocurrency before noting it was “worth less than a penny, and five feathers, with zero scandals,” while surrounded by a flock of chickens. The digital ad was released a little over a week after the Tribune began asking Kim’s campaign questions about the investment loss.
“Clearly, my flock and I weren’t trying to get rich, but what I was trying to do as a member of the Bank On commission against predatory lending was teach people about crypto,” said Kim, referring to her role on a commission overseen by the Illinois comptroller’s office. “I wanted to make sure I understood the ins and outs so that I could protect people from their scams.”
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that are not issued or backed by the federal government or a central bank. They rely on blockchain technology to facilitate transactions and are typically bought and sold through online exchanges. Well-known cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Litecoin.
While proponents argue crypto represents financial innovation, critics often point to its volatility and limited regulation. Prices can fluctuate sharply over short periods, and the industry has faced repeated scrutiny over fraud, market manipulation and consumer protection failures.
In Illinois, cryptocurrency has drawn political attention before. In 2022, several Democratic members of Congress — including U.S. Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García and Nikki Budzinski — faced questions after it was revealed they had accepted campaign donations from Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried was later convicted and sentenced to prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme.
Kim was among the first Illinois politicians to accept cryptocurrency-based campaign contributions when she ran for reelection as Lake County treasurer in 2022, a position she has held since 2018.
“Somebody needs to be out there warning people and teaching them about what this is. And again, it’s irresponsible for anyone who works in finance or wants to be the fiscal watchdog of the state to not understand all forms of currency,” Kim said in the interview. “But crypto isn’t gambling. And I think you and I can agree there’s a market. And it’s an investment, but it’s not like a slot machine.”
Campaign finance records show that as of the end of December, Kim had about $241,000 on hand. Kifowit reported just under $100,000, while Villa reported slightly more than $300,000. Croke led the field with more than $830,000 in campaign cash.
Croke was the main sponsor of the 2021 legislation that would have allowed financial services companies that deal with crypto assets to work with the state to create a more stable business environment.
Kim says the bill “championed the expansion of crypto in Illinois,” while Croke’s husband’s law firm, Croke Fairchild Duarte and Beres, had a professional interest in working with crypto-related businesses.
The Croke campaign spokesperson said the firm “did not have the person on staff leading the crypto work when (Croke) introduced the bill.” But, according to the firm’s website, the firm at the time offered and still offers services to help clients navigate government regulations and structure deals and investments in the cryptocurrency space.
The 2021 legislation had more than two dozen other sponsors, Kifowit included, and passed the Illinois House 117-0 but failed to pass the state Senate.
Last year, though, the General Assembly passed and Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law sweeping legislation that regulates cryptocurrency through oversight from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Croke, who heads the House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee, which hears debate on crypto-related legislation, supported the measure, as did Kifowit and Villa.
Crypto regulation was pushed during last spring’s legislative session as Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has been supportive of the industry, with the Securities and Exchange Commission stopping probes into crypto businesses and litigation against at least one company last year, The New York Times has reported. The president even started a business offering cryptocurrency and, shortly before he was inaugurated last year, started selling a “memecoin,” meant to be a play on online jokes or celebrities, the newspaper reported.
Andrew Gordon, a Skokie-based attorney who has practiced in the cryptocurrency space for over a decade, said political candidates accepting crypto can be a positive thing for their campaigns because there’s a population of investors that don’t have cash but are willing to donate their crypto, and the fees are cheaper for candidates than if they accept credit card payments.
But he also said it can be “extremely dangerous” for a campaign to accept crypto contributions and invest in “highly speculative currency” unless it’s more reputable, such as Bitcoin, or other long-standing crypto brands.
“For many businesses and campaigns, they convert the cryptocurrency into cash as soon as they receive it,” said Gordon, who also founded a political action committee called Main Street Crypto PAC. “As a fiduciary, or being responsible for the funds, you don’t want to speculate necessarily and invest in the market. You just want to be able to have that cash as part of your budget. So most people will convert it to cash or have a limited treasury of (cryptocurrencies) … that have been around the longest.”
In the interview, Kim said she looks back on the CHKN token investment as an education of how crypto can work, an experience that could help her in the future.
“I’m the most experienced candidate in this race, and some of it is experience by doing, right?” she said. “The chief fiscal officer needs to understand all currencies in circulation, even the ones we don’t like. Someone needs to be the expert.”