Highlights:
- Trump’s PAC received approximately $7.5M in cryptocurrencies from July to September.
- Nearly half of the corporate donations to U.S. elections now come from the crypto industry.
- The WLFI token sale encountered challenges, raising only $10.8 million so far.
According to a Federal Election Commission filing submitted on Tuesday, the Trump 47 joint fundraising committee, a political action committee (PAC) supporting former United States President and current leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has raised about $7.5 million in cryptocurrencies. The PAC’s latest filing covers donations from July 1 to September 30. The industry has raised about 13 times more than it did in the last presidential election year.
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According to CNBC, the Trump-supporting TRUMP 47 COMMITTEE has raised about $7.5 million in cryptocurrencies from July 1 to September 30, covering BTC, ETH, XPR, USDT and USDC. At least 18 donors donated more than $5.5 million in BTC, and another 7 donated about $1.5 million in…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 16, 2024
Crypto Contributions Surge for Trump’s Campaign
A recent analysis by the nonprofit Public Citizen found that nearly half of all corporate donations to U.S. elections come from the crypto sector, including significant contributions from Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The collected digital assets include Bitcoin, XRP, USDT, Ether, and USDC. According to the filing, at least 18 donors contributed over $5.5 million in Bitcoin to Trump 47, while another seven donated approximately $1.5 million in Ether.
Other notable donors include Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, who donated nearly $100,000 in Bitcoin, and Brian Murray from Craft Ventures, who contributed $6,560 in Bitcoin. Craft Ventures, founded by pro-Trump venture capitalist David Sacks, has played a key role in garnering crypto support for the campaign.
Additionally, Trevor Traina of Kresus Labs, Bruce Fenton of Chainstone Labs, and Gary Cardone of Cardone Digital Ventures have also made significant contributions. Ripple’s legal chief, Stuart Alderoty, donated $300,000 in XRP, underscoring divisions within the crypto industry.
In his keynote speech at the largest Bitcoin conference of the year, held in Nashville in July, Trump mentioned that his campaign had raised $25 million from the crypto industry. However, he did not specify the amount raised from digital tokens compared to dollar donations.
Crypto and the U.S. Election 2024
With the 2024 election just three weeks away and polls showing a tight race, Trump is relying on significant funding from the crypto community. He has positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate this election, a shift from his earlier views during his presidency. He was the first prominent presidential candidate to accept digital token donations in May.
Crypto has become a key issue for both Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Harris recently announced that she will support innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital assets if elected. In early August, Harris’s campaign launched the Crypto4Harris initiative to connect with the crypto community and respond to Republican efforts to win over crypto voters.
The campaign seeks to establish a pro-crypto policy framework to enhance Harris’s ties with the crypto industry. Recently, Ripple’s co-founder Chris Larsen made a $1 million cryptocurrency donation in XRP to support Kamala Harris.
🚨SCOOP: @Ripple co-founder @chrislarsensf has made the first documented #crypto donation to @KamalaHarris.
According to new FEC filings, Larsen donated $1 million in $XRP to one of the leading super PACs supporting Harris — Future Forward USA.@AppBreadcrumbs pic.twitter.com/XAYbUImpS5
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) October 11, 2024
WLFI Token Sale Faces Challenges, Raising Only $10.8 Million of $300M Target
Apart from Trump’s PAC receiving $7.5M in crypto, the former president faced setbacks with WLFI’s token sale, which launched on Tuesday. It has raised only $10.8 million of the targeted $300 million due to technical issues, including website crashes. The token sale for the platform offers 20 billion tokens priced at 1.5 cents each. However, only 724 million tokens have been sold. Etherscan data shows that just 6,832 unique wallet addresses currently hold WLFI tokens.
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