Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Waukesha Expo Center on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States.
Daniel Steinle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump campaign announced on Tuesday that it would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrencies, casting it as part of its solidarity with forces opposed to “socialist government control” of U.S. financial markets.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump can donate using “any cryptocurrency accepted through the Coinbase Commerce product,” the campaign said in a press release.
The announcement comes as President Joe Biden, who is running for re-election against President Trump, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), a vocal cryptocurrency critic who has pushed for a stranglehold on the emerging cryptocurrency industry. It is something that connects.
Referring to Warren's re-election ad posted on He said he was building an “anti-cryptocurrency army.'' 2023.
“With new crypto options available, MAGA supporters will form a crypto army that will lead the campaign to victory on November 5th!” the campaign said.
The move is a potential new source of funding for the Trump campaign, which remains behind Biden in cash on hand despite outspending the Democratic incumbent in April.
Crypto donations are reported as in-kind donations, similar to gifts of stock. Campaigns can then decide whether to liquidate the digital currency or leave it alone.
“Contribution limits and disclosure requirements for virtual currency donations are subject to Federal Election Commission regulations,” the Trump campaign said.
The campaign's embrace of cryptocurrency is just the latest in a series of efforts by Trump to garner support from the crypto community, which tends to skew younger and male, according to an April 2023 poll by the Pew Research Center.
For example, in December, President Trump launched a limited run of NFT trading cards that could be purchased with cryptocurrency.
Earlier this month, he hosted a lavish dinner for NFT supporters at Mar-a-Lago Club.
There, President Trump told cryptocurrency supporters that they should “vote” for him because the Biden administration is “against” cryptocurrencies, Politico reported.
Trump's campaign announced Tuesday that he is the “first major party candidate” to accept cryptocurrency donations. However, Trump will not officially become a candidate until July.
And he's not the first presidential candidate to accept crypto donations.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the most likely independent presidential candidate, has announced that his campaign will accept Bitcoin donations in May 2023. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accepted Bitcoin donations for her own presidential campaign in 2015.
