(Donald Trump's reaction at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tenn.)
Major cryptocurrencies are joining major tech and other American companies in donating millions of dollars to President-elect Trump's inauguration, Fox Business has learned.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has donated $1 million to the Trump Vance Inauguration Committee, an organization that is sponsoring three days of festivities, parades and large gatherings to celebrate Trump and Vice President-elect VJD Vance in the November election, which in the days leading up to Held, supplies. And after they were sworn in on January 20. Blockchain payment company Ripple will also contribute $5 million in its native XRP crypto token.
Both companies acknowledged the financial contributions to FOX Business. Another digital currency utility, MoonPay, a digital asset payment provider, told FOX Business it would also contribute to the fund, but declined to disclose the exact amount.
No news of digital currency donations has been reported yet.
The contributions represent a small fraction of the record $200 million already pledged by corporate and individual donors to the inaugural committee, down from the previous record of $107 million raised by Trump's first inaugural committee in 2017, and $62 million The dollars raised by Biden's committee surpassed that in 2017. 2021. A source in Trump and Vance's inauguration committee tells FOX Business they are confident they can reach $225 million by Inauguration Day.
Former US President Donald Trump, right, and Senator J. Trump (Photo: Emily Elkonin/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The contributions from cryptocurrency elites, many of which are being given to a presidential inauguration fund for the first time, reflect the industry's enthusiasm for Trump, who has promised lighter regulation than his predecessor, Joe Biden. The industry cut more than $200 million in political spending this election cycle, with major contributions from Ripple, Coinbase and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Executives including Kraken founder Jesse Powell and Andreessen Horowitz founders Mark Anderson and Ben Horowitz were some of Trump's biggest donors.
Spokespeople for Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase did not respond to requests for comment on whether the companies plan to contribute to the inaugural fund.
“Crypto innovation is shaping up to be as big, if not bigger, than the software and internet revolutions,” Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi told FOX Business. “For the first time, we have a president who truly understands the potential of disruptive technology and embraces the crypto sector. We're excited to continue working with President-elect Trump and his administration to push for long-overdue regulatory clarity and unlock this next wave of innovation.”
Trump has followed through on some of his promises to support the digital asset industry since his election on November 5, including nominating crypto-lover Paul Atkins as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also appointed David Sacks as the first cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence “czar,” a role in which Sacks bridges the gap between industry and regulators by working closely with them on policy initiatives, while also chairing the President's Council of Advisors for It is science and technology. .
In a statement to FOX Business, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, “With trusted and knowledgeable cryptocurrency advocates like Paul Atkins and David Sachs appointed in the Trump administration, the future of the crypto industry looks nothing but promising. “I'm optimistic that we can finally move past the losing war on crypto waged by Elizabeth Warren's attack dog, Cher Gensler.” SEC Chairman Gensler will leave on January 20, 2025, at the same time as the inauguration.
Trump nominated Paul Atkins as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners LLC, participates in a strategic CEO and policy discussion with President Donald Trump at the Eisenhower Office Building in Washington, April 11, 2017. (Reuters/Joshua Roberts/File photo/Reuters photo)
Trump has also filled his cabinet with crypto-friendly options, such as Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessant, who has been a staunch defender of the transformative potential of crypto and blockchain technology, and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial giant Cantor Fitzgerald, who personally Invest heavily in Bitcoin.
In addition to digital currencies, big technologies and their managers also contributed to Trump's inauguration fund, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Uber's agent and OpenAI's Sam Altman pay cash. Each contributed one million dollars to the fund. Additionally, Bezos and Zuckerberg are among the tech CEOs who have met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in recent days.
Trump, Bezos sat down for dinner earlier this week
Earlier this week, Vlad Tenev, CEO of trading platform Robinhood, told FOX Business that the company plans to contribute $2 million to the inaugural committee.
The donations and confrontation with Trump represent a dramatic shift in tone among tech executives, many of whom were outspoken critics of Trump before his re-election, as they seek to mend fences with their de facto regulator.
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