A political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump has collected about $7.5 million in cryptocurrency donations since early June, according to a recent report filed with the Federal Election Commission. The Trump 47 Community Chest Committee received donations in Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP, as well as the stablecoins Tether and USD Coin.
The latest application, filed Tuesday, covers donations from July 1 to September 30 and includes cumulative donations. This large crypto donation confirms previous data that shows the industry is betting heavily on Trump with the US presidential election just three weeks away.
Strengthening Trump campaign with Bitcoin and virtual currency donations
Trump had previously expressed skepticism towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies during his presidential term, but has repositioned himself as a pro-cryptocurrency candidate. In May, he became the first major presidential candidate to accept campaign contributions in digital assets. In his keynote address at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville in July, Trump announced that his campaign had raised $25 million from the cryptocurrency industry.
Nearly half of the corporate money flowing into the next election will come from the crypto sector, according to a report by nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen. Major donors include Coinbase, Ripple, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which together account for a significant portion of corporate donations. The industry raised about 13 times the amount it raised during the previous presidential campaign.
At least 18 donors gave more than $5.5 million in Bitcoin to the Trump 47 Committee, and another seven people gave about $1.5 million in Ether, according to the filing. Contributors are from more than 15 states and U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, a major battleground. Their jobs range from software engineers at defense contractor Lockheed Martin to sales engineers at Dassey Power Services and producers at Esperanza Entertainment.
David Bailey, CEO of media group BTC, has donated more than $498,000 in Bitcoin. Mr. Bailey was instrumental in Mr. Trump's “orange slurping,” ultimately leading to the former president's participation in the Nashville conference. Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security company BitGo, donated nearly $100,000 in Bitcoin. Brian Murray, a partner at Kraft Ventures, founded by pro-Trump venture capitalist David Sachs, donated $6,560 in Bitcoin.
Trevor Traina, founder of Kresus Labs, donated over $25,000 in Ether. Chainstone Labs CEO Bruce Fenton donated $60,000 in Bitcoin. Gary Cardone of Cardone Digital Ventures has donated over $840,000 in Bitcoin. Ripple's chief legal officer, Stuart Alderotti, donated $300,000 in XRP and attended a Trump fundraiser hosted by David Sachs in San Francisco in June.
Alderoty's contribution stands in contrast to that of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, who donated $1 million worth of XRP tokens to Future Forward, a super PAC associated with Democratic campaigns. Despite the Biden administration's tough stance on the crypto industry, Larsen expressed confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris' understanding of the innovation economy, which has Bay Area roots.
“She's known people her whole life who grew up in the innovation economy,” Larsen told CNBC. “I think she understands it on a fundamental level. Either Biden's people simply weren't paying attention, or the idea of empowering workers and America's champions controlling their industries. I think it's just that they didn't understand the relationship between making sure that they did that.''
In addition to Mr. Larsen, Uniswap Labs general counsel Marvin Anmoli, who is currently facing legal trouble for allegedly violating securities laws, also contributed to political action committees aligned with Democratic interests. On the pro-Trump side, billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have been big supporters of the campaign, each contributing nearly $1.1 million. Some of these funds were returned in September because they exceeded statutory contribution limits.
Among the new donors is Chase Herro, co-founder of Trump's new cryptocurrency project, World Liberty Financial. The platform aims to function as a decentralized bank, encouraging users to borrow, lend, and invest in cryptocurrencies. Despite starting the token sale with an initial funding goal of $300 million, the project has sold $10.2 million worth of WLFI tokens to date. At its launch, it faced technical problems, including the website crashing during sales.
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $67,989.
Featured images from France 24, charts from TradingView.com
