A political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump has collected about $7.5 million in crypto donations since the beginning of June, according to a recent filing with the Federal Election Commission. The Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee received contributions in Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, as well as stablecoins Tether and USD Coin.
The latest file, submitted Tuesday, covers donations from July 1 to September 30 and includes cumulative contributions. This huge amount of crypto donations confirms previous data, which confirmed that the industry was betting heavily on Trump, with just three weeks until the US elections.
Bitcoin and crypto donations boost Trump campaign
Trump, who had previously expressed skepticism towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies during his presidency, has repositioned himself as a pro-crypto candidate. In May, he became the first major presidential candidate to accept campaign donations in the form of digital assets. “The campaign raised $25 million from the crypto industry,” Trump announced during a keynote speech at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville in July.
Nearly half of all corporate money going into the upcoming election is coming from the crypto sector, according to a report from the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen. Top contributors include Coinbase, Ripple, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which collectively account for a significant portion of corporate donations. The industry raised about 13 times the amount it brought in during the last presidential election cycle.
At least 18 donors contributed more than $5.5 million in Bitcoin to the Trump 47 committee, while seven other people donated about $1.5 million in Ether, according to the filing. Contributors come from more than 15 states, including key battlegrounds, as well as the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Their professions range from software engineers at defense contractor Lockheed Martin to sales engineers at Duthie Power Services and producers at Esperanza Entertainment.
David Bailey, CEO of media group BTC Inc., contributed over $498,000 in Bitcoin. Bailey was instrumental in Trump’s orange-pilling, which culminated with the former president’s attendance at the Nashville conference. Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security company BitGo, donated nearly $100,000 in Bitcoin. Brian Murray, a partner at Craft Ventures, founded by pro-Trump venture capitalist David Sacks, donated $6,560 in Bitcoin.
Trevor Traina, founder of Kresus Labs, donated over $25,000 in Ether. Bruce Fenton, CEO of Chainstone Labs, contributed $60,000 in Bitcoin. Gary Cardone of Cardone Digital Ventures donated over $840,000 in Bitcoin. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, contributed $300,000 in XRP and attended a Trump fundraising event hosted by David Sacks in San Francisco in June.
Alderoty’s contribution contrasts with 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. While the Biden administration has taken a strict stance towards the crypto industry, Larsen expressed confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris’ understanding of the innovation economy due to her roots in the Bay Area.
“She knows people who have grown up in the innovation economy their whole life,” Larsen told CNBC. “I think she understands on a fundamental level, in a way that I think the Biden people just weren’t paying attention, or maybe they just didn’t make the connection between empowering workers and ensuring they have American champions dominating their industries. »
In addition to Larsen, Uniswap Labs general counsel Marvin Ammori – who is currently facing lawsuits over alleged securities law violations – has also contributed to political action committees aligned with Democratic interests. On the pro-Trump side, billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss largely supported the campaign, each contributing nearly $1.1 million. Part of these funds was reimbursed in September due to the legal contribution limits being exceeded.
Among the new donors is Chase Herro, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, Trump’s new crypto project. The platform aims to operate as a decentralized bank, encouraging users to borrow, lend and invest in cryptocurrencies. Although it launched its token sale with an initial fundraising goal of $300 million, the project has so far sold over $10.2 million worth of WLFI tokens. The launch was faced with technical issues, including website outages during the sale.
At press time, BTC was trading at $67,989.
Featured image from France 24, chart from TradingView.com
