Trump raises over $4 million in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former President Donald Trump is traveling to Tennessee this weekend to speak at a major bitcoin conference. It looks like he’ll be in front of a supportive audience.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has raised more than $4 million through a mix of digital tokens, a campaign aide told CNBC. Contributors donated Bitcoin, etherRipple XRP token, the stablecoin indexed to the US dollar USDC and various memecoins, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.

The more than 1,000-page report shows the totals for the joint “Trump 47” fundraising committee from April 1 to June 30. The committee raised more than $118 million during that period, with payments going to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and other parties, according to the filing.

At least 19 donors have given more than $2.15 million in bitcoin to the committee, according to the filing. The donors come from 12 states, including some battleground states. Their occupations include homemaker, U.S. Army officer, missionary, painter, sales rep for a pizza company and security technician at the State Department.

Crypto billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss led the charge, each contributing 15.57 bitcoins, or just over $1 million at the time of their donation. Since their contributions exceeded the $844,600 limit, the filing states that the money was partially refunded. Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security firm BitGo, contributed $50,000 worth of bitcoin.

In recent months, Trump has positioned himself as the pro-crypto presidential candidate, a reversal from his previous stance during his tenure in the White House. Trump launched his latest collection of non-fungible tokens on the Solana blockchain in April and has since made increasingly bullish comments about cryptocurrencies. Along the way, he has gained the support of a number of influential investors in the tech and crypto space, including venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

Trump will be in Nashville on Saturday to deliver the keynote address at the Bitcoin Conference, which is being held at the Music City Center. He will also hold a campaign fundraiser in the city that same day, where tickets cost up to $844,600 per person.

First-tier tickets include a seat at a roundtable with Trump and are priced at the maximum allowable individual donation to the Trump 47 Committee. The lower tier includes a photo with the former president for $60,000 per person or $100,000 per couple, according to the invitation.

Brian Hughes, a Trump campaign aide, said that of the more than $4 million raised in cryptocurrency, most of it came in bitcoin.

“Crypto innovators and others in the tech sector are under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats,” Hughes said, referring to the de facto Democratic nominee. “While the Biden-Harris administration stifles innovation with more regulation and higher taxes, President Trump is ready to encourage American leadership in this and other emerging technologies.”

Trump, the first major presidential candidate to accept donations in digital tokens, can receive contributions in a range of cryptocurrencies, including dogecoin, Shiba Inu coin, XRP, USDC and ether.

Jesse Powell, founder and former CEO of Kraken, donated nearly $845,000 in ether. Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer of Ripple, donated $300,000 in XRP token. Alderoty recently attended a Trump fundraiser hosted by venture capitalist David Sacks in San Francisco.

Former Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, who resigned from the company he co-founded last week after publishing an article about “literal war” on Trump opponents, donated $50,000 in USDC.

So far, it appears that the Trump campaign is converting most of these contributions immediately into USDC and then liquidating them. In some cases, however, the campaign has chosen to hold on to the USDC.

Trump has personally pledged to defend the rights of those who choose to self-custody their cryptocurrencies, meaning they don’t rely on a centralized entity like Coinbase and instead use crypto wallets, which are sometimes beyond the reach of the IRS.

At the Libertarian National Convention in Washington in May, Trump also promised to keep Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and her “acolytes” away from bitcoin holders. Warren is a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, after a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida with a dozen bitcoin mining executives who pledged their support, Trump said all future bitcoin would be minted in the United States if he returned to the White House.

Trump named Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, a move widely seen as a victory for the cryptocurrency industry. Vance has advocated for looser regulation of cryptocurrencies and revealed in 2022 that he personally holds bitcoin.

The Biden White House has tightened regulation on cryptocurrencies, with the SEC stepping up its enforcement of the sector in recent years.