It’s unclear if the Trump 47 Committee converted the money to cash or returned the Bitcoin portion of the payment.
After giving more bitcoin to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign than was permitted by federal law, the billionaire Winklevoss twins—founders of the cryptocurrency startup Gemini—were reimbursed. An anonymous campaign official was quoted in a Bloomberg story stating that the donors received a reimbursement for the percentage exceeding the legal limit.
On social media site X on Thursday, the twins both disclosed donations to the presumed Republican nominee totaling $2 million in Bitcoin. This amount exceeds the maximum $844,600 that the Trump committee is legally allowed to take per person.
It is unclear if the Trump 47 Committee, which received the Bitcoin payment and usually concentrates on larger donors, returned the Bitcoin or exchanged it for cash equivalent to the full amount. The money that was donated is reportedly divided between the Republican National Committee, 42 GOP state party committees, the former president’s campaign, and the leadership political action committee, which covers his legal expenses.
Trump’s acceptance of the Bitcoin donation is a step towards the growing alliance between his campaign and the cryptocurrency sector, which is expected to play a significant role in the election of 2024.
Supporters and investors assemble behind politicians who pledge to loosen regulations. The Winklevoss brothers allegedly paid up to $300,000 a person to attend a Trump fundraiser in June. Additionally, they have contributed around $5 million to the Fairshake political action group and its allies, which have supported specific Republican and Democratic candidates for office and run attack advertisements against legislators.
Many of the users of the brothers’ cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini, struggled for months to get their money back from investments made in Gemini Earn, a joint venture with the now-bankrupt Genesis that allowed users to earn a dividend on cryptocurrency holdings. Users can now, however, receive a return of their Earn assets in kind.
Attorney General of New York Letitia James announced last week that she had obtained roughly $50 million from Gemini on behalf of users who “were defrauded.” As part of a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services, Gemini agreed in February to repay at least $1.1 billion to clients through the Genesis bankruptcy. Early in the year, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Gemini and Genesis about Gemini Earn; Genesis has since settled the case.