Trump Super PAC Gets Millions in Donations From Crypto Backers

Several prominent figures with ties to the crypto industry have emerged as backers of a new pro-Trump super political-action committee, dubbed America PAC.

Founders of crypto exchange Gemini, Tyler, and Cameron Winklevoss have donated $250,000 to the PAC each, Federal Election Commission records on Monday show. The pair made a separate $2 million Bitcoin donation to former president Donald Trump’s campaign last month.

It comes as the crypto community kicked off a fresh wave of political support and grandstanding for former President Donald Trump for his White House bid following an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Elon Musk is planning to commit around $45 million a month to the PAC, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Tesla, the electric car company co-founded by Musk, holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet after buying $1.5 billion of the asset in February 2021. The company has since trimmed its holdings to around $775.5 million, data tracked by Bitcoin Treasuries shows.

It is not yet clear if Musk has already donated, as FEC records don’t include his name and are dated to June 30. Efforts were made to contact Musk, but Decrypt has yet to receive a response.

Established in June, America PAC is dedicated to voter registration and encouraging early voting and mail-in ballot requests in key swing states, according to the report.

As of June 30, FEC records show that the PAC has garnered $8.75 million in donations across 18 entities, not all of which are linked to the crypto industry.

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies, was also named in the report, having contributed $1 million.

Lonsdale has previously said that crossing artificial intelligence and crypto could prove fruitful for both industries, signaling Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana would stand to benefit.

Douglas Leone and Shaun Maguire, partners at Sequoia Capital — which has invested in several crypto projects — donated $1 million and $500,000, respectively.

Sequoia had previously earmarked $500 million for new crypto projects in February 2022 but slashed that figure to $200 million 17 months later, citing a liquidity crunch.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Howery, co-founder of the venture capital firm Founders Fund, which focuses on emerging technologies, including blockchain, contributed $1 million to the PAC through multiple donations, according to FEC records.

The former president has appealed to crypto holders on the campaign trail, accepting crypto donations in May after signaling he’s “good” with crypto now at a Mar-a-Lago event for holders of his Polygon-based NFT collection. Last month, Trump specifically backed Bitcoin miners.

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