Trump raises more than $4 million in bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Former President Donald Trump is headed to Tennessee this weekend to deliver a keynote address at a major bitcoin conference. It’s looking like he’ll be in front of a favorable crowd.

Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has raised more than $4 million from a mix of digital tokens, a campaign aide told CNBC. Contributors have donated bitcoin, ether, Ripple’s XRP token, the U.S. dollar pegged stablecoin USDC and various memecoins, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.

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

At least 19 donors contributed more than $2.15 million bitcoin to the committee, the filing shows. Contributors hail from 12 states, including a few battlegrounds. Their professions include homemaker, U.S. military officer, missionary, painter, sales rep for a pizza company and a security technician with the State Department.

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

In recent months, Trump has positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate for president, a reversal from his previous stance during his time in the White House. Trump launched his latest non-fungible token collection on the Solana blockchain in April and has since been making increasingly bullish comments on crypto. Along the way, he’s gained the support of a number of influential tech and crypto investors, 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 host a campaign fundraiser in the city the same day, where tickets run as high as $844,600 per person.

Top-tier tickets include a seat at a roundtable with Trump and are priced at the maximum donation amount permitted for individuals to give to the Trump 47 Committee. The next level down includes a photo with the former president at $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 in crypto raised, most of it arrived in bitcoin.

“Crypto innovators and others in the technology sector are under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats,” said Hughes, 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.

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

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

Thus far, it appears the Trump campaign is mostly converting these contributions immediately to USDC and then liquidating the donations. In some cases, however, the campaign has opted to hold onto the USDC.

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

Trump also vowed at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington in May to keep Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and “her goons” away from bitcoin holders. Warren is a vocal crypto critic.

Meanwhile, following a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida with about a dozen bitcoin mining executives who pledged their support, Trump declared that all future bitcoin will be minted in the U.S., should he return to the White House.

Trump named Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate, a move viewed by many as a win for the crypto sector. Vance has advocated for looser regulation of crypto and disclosed in 2022 that he personally holds bitcoin.

The Biden White House has ramped up crypto regulation, with the SEC dialing up actions on the sector in recent years.