A political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump has raised approximately $7.5 million in crypto donations since early 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 Tether and USD Coin stablecoins.
the latest presentationfiled Tuesday, covers donations from July 1 through Sept. 30 and includes cumulative contributions. This huge amount of crypto donations confirms previous data, which confirmed that the industry is betting heavily on Trump, with only three weeks left until the US elections.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations bolster Trump’s campaign
Trump, who previously expressed skepticism toward Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies during his presidency, has repositioned himself as a pro-cryptocurrency candidate. In May, he became the first major presidential candidate to accept campaign donations in digital assets. “The campaign has 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 flowing into the upcoming elections comes from the crypto sector, according to a report by nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen. Major contributors include Coinbase, Ripple, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which together account for a significant portion of business donations. The industry has raised about 13 times the amount it raised 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 around $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 more than $498,000 worth of Bitcoin. Bailey was instrumental in Trump, the “orange pill”which culminated with the former president’s participation in the Nashville conference. Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security company BitGo, donated nearly $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. Brian Murray, a partner at Craft Ventures, founded by pro-Trump venture capitalist David Sacks, donated $6,560 worth of Bitcoin.
Trevor Traina, founder of Kresus Labs, donated more than $25,000 worth of Ether. Bruce Fenton, CEO of Chainstone Labs, contributed $60,000 worth of Bitcoin. Gary Cardone of Cardone Digital Ventures donated more than $840,000 worth of Bitcoin. Stuart Alderoty, legal director of Ripple, contributed $300,000 in XRP and attended a Trump fundraiser 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 in XRP tokens to Future Forward, a super PAC associated with Democratic campaigns. While the Biden administration has taken a strict stance toward 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 entire lives,” Larsen told CNBC. “I think he understands it at a fundamental level, in a way that I think the Biden people just weren’t paying attention to, or maybe they just didn’t make the connection between empowering workers and making sure that there are American champions dominating their industries. “
In addition to Larsen, Marvin Ammori, general counsel at Uniswap Labs, which is currently facing legal challenges for alleged securities law violations—also contributed to the creation of political action committees aligned with Democratic interests. On the pro-Trump side, billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have significantly supported the campaign, each of whom contributed nearly $1.1 million. Some of these funds were refunded in September for exceeding legal contribution limits.
Among the new donors is Chase Herro, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, Trump’s new crypto project. The platform aims to function as a decentralized bank, encouraging users to borrow, lend and invest in cryptocurrencies. Despite launching 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 faced technical issues, including website crashes during the sale.
At the time of publication, BTC was trading at $67,989.
Featured image from France 24, chart from TradingView.com
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