Crypto Stakeholders Support Donald Trump Presidential Bid with Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Donation Worth $7.5M
Cryptocurrency leaders donate $7.5 million worth of cryptos to a political action committee (PAC) supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
According to a recent CNBC report, the PAC Trump 47 revealed the development in a filing submitted on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website. The filing covered donations for the third quarter of the year, specifically from July 1 to September 30, 2024.
Notably, contributors gave their donations in different cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP (XRP), and stablecoins, like USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT). These donations came from executives affiliated with top crypto-related companies like Ripple, Coinbase, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Donation Details
In particular, 18 crypto stalwarts donated around $5.5 million worth of BTC. One of the Bitcoin contributors is David Bailey of BTC Inc., who contributed around $500,000 to Trump 47. Bailey was among the crypto leaders who converted Trump from a skeptic to a Bitcoin evangelist.
Other significant Bitcoin donors and their contributions include U.S. investor Gary Cardone ($840,000), BitGo CEO Mike Belshe ($100,000), and Bruce Fenton of Chainstone Labs ($60,000).
Furthermore, seven crypto leaders donated $1.5 million in ETH to the Trump 47 Committee. Of this figure, Trevor Traina of Kresus Labs donated $25,000 worth of ETH.
For the XRP donations, Ripple’s CLO Stuart Alderoty was among the top donors. As reported earlier, the Ripple CLO donated 624,000 XRP (worth $300,000) in July. Besides donating $300,000 worth of XRP, Alderoty also attended a Trump fundraising event held in June in San Francisco.
Alderoty’s choice of candidate differs from that of Ripple’s co-founder, who is a major supporter of Kamala Harris. Last week, the Ripple co-founder donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting Harris’ presidential ambition.
Crypto Fans Give Trump More Support
The crypto industry has been more supportive of Trump compared to Harris. Industry leaders believe that Trump would save the industry from the SEC’s aggressive approach witnessed under the current administration. Consequently, they have backed Trump’s campaign with heavy donations.
During his keynote at the Bitcoin conference in July, Trump disclosed that his campaign had received $25 million from the crypto industry. However, he did not reveal how much of this amount constitutes dollar donations.
Some prominent figures like Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have played significant roles in bolstering Trump’s crypto donations. The Gemini founders donated $1.1 million worth of Bitcoin each to support Trump’s presidential bid. Additionally, Kraken founder and Chairman Jesse Powell contributed $1 million in ETH to Trump’s campaign earlier this year.