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Trump fundraising documents exposed, which crypto industry leaders support Trump's campaign?

24-07-18 12:12

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Original title: "A look at the famous crypto industry donors who support Trump's campaign"

Original author: Weilin, PANews

Recently, two super PACs, the main channels for Trump's fundraising, namely Trump 47 Committee and America PAC, have submitted disclosure documents for accepting donations to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and donations from many crypto industry leaders or crypto friends have surfaced.

Data shows that from April 1 to June 30, the brothers Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss have donated the most to support Trump, with donations exceeding $2.5 million. Sequoia Capital partner Douglas Leone, former PayPal executives, Kraken co-founders and others followed.

As the US election approaches, Trump's fundraising is also in full swing. PANews has taken stock of the major crypto industry-related well-known donors supporting Trump's campaign based on publicly disclosed information.

Winklevoss brothers (Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss)

FEC records show that the Winklevoss brothers, founders of the crypto exchange Gemini and Winklevoss Capital Management, have donated $2.027 million in BTC to the Trump 47 Committee, which supports Trump, but $310,800 will be returned due to federal individual donation restrictions.

In addition, the Winklevoss brothers have each donated $250,000 to America PAC.

Douglas Leone, Partner, Sequoia Capital

Doug Leone led venture capital firm Sequoia Capital as a managing partner from 1996 to 2022, a position he stepped down from in 2022, but remains a general partner. During his tenure, Leone led Sequoia Capital’s tech investments, including Medallia, Rackspace, RingCentral, ServiceNow, and Nubank.

On June 4, he said, "I am increasingly concerned about the overall direction of our country, our broken immigration system, our ballooning deficit, and our foreign policy missteps. Therefore, I am supporting former President Trump in the upcoming election."

On June 14, he donated $1 million to America PAC.

Former Tesla Board Member, Valor Equity Partner, CEO Antonio Gracias

Antonio is the founder, CEO and chief investment officer of Valor. Antonio founded Valor in 1995. He has more than 25 years of experience in private equity investments. Antonio served as a director of Tesla from 2007 to 2021.

On June 28, he donated $1 million to America PAC.

Former Tesla Board Member, Valor Equity Partner, CEO Antonio Gracias

On June 28, he donated $1 million to America PAC.

Joe Lonsdale, Co-Founder of Palantir Technologies

Joe Lonsdale is the founder and managing partner of 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm with over $6 billion in capital under management. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR), a global software company known for supporting the defense and intelligence efforts of the United States and its allies.

Lonsdale previously said that the combination of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency could be beneficial to both industries, indicating that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana would benefit. On June 7, he donated $1 million to America PAC.

Kenneth Howery, co-founder of VC firm Founders Fund

Kenneth Howery is an American entrepreneur and diplomat. He is the co-founder of PayPal and Founders Fund. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the US ambassador to Sweden under Trump.

This time, on June 20 and June 21, he donated $1 million to America PAC.

Jesse Powell, Co-Founder of Crypto Exchange Kraken

Jesse Powell, co-founder of crypto exchange Kraken, started working with digital currencies as early as 2001. Before becoming a crypto OG, he was the founder and CEO of Lewt, a company that provided account management and game currency services to Diablo 2 gamers from 2001 to 2011. He is also the founder of Verge Gallery. Soon after the advent of Bitcoin, Powell, who majored in philosophy and advocated libertarianism, quickly became a staunch supporter of cryptocurrency. He founded Kraken in 2011.

On June 28, he said in an X post: "I am very happy to unite with other leaders in our community to support the only major party candidate who supports cryptocurrency in the 2024 presidential election so that the United States can continue to lead blockchain technology." On June 28, he donated $845,000 worth of ETH.

Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire

Shaun Maguire is a partner at Sequoia Capital. Previously, he co-founded Expanse, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $800 million. He was also a partner at GV.

On May 31, within minutes of the announcement of the "guilty" verdict in the Trump hush money case, Shaun Maguire announced a donation of $300,000 to Trump, calling the trial unfair. Maguire published a long article on X, outlining a series of reasons for supporting Trump, including the Biden administration's handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and "weakness" in the Middle East.

Maguire added that the various legal proceedings against Trump were also "radicalizing experiences." "There is a real possibility that President Trump will be convicted of a felony and sent to prison," he wrote. "Frankly, that's part of the reason why I support him. I believe our justice system is being weaponized against him."

Later, on June 18, he donated $500,000 to America PAC.

Stuart Alderoty, Chief Legal Officer, Ripple

Stuart Alderoty is the Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, overseeing the Legal, Compliance and Regulatory business units. Stuart has over 30 years of legal experience with expertise in financial services and regulatory matters.

On June 11, Stuart Alderoty donated $300,000 in XRP to the Trump 47 Committee.

Michael Belshe, CEO of BitGo

Mike Belshe is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of BitGo, Inc. and co-founder of Lookout Software in 2004. He is the co-inventor of the SPDY protocol and one of the lead authors of the HTTP/2.0 specification.

On June 4, he donated $50,000 in BTC to the Trump 47 Committee.

Messari CEO Ryan Selkis

Ryan Selkis is the founder and CEO of Messari and a member of the founding team of Digital Currency Group and CoinDesk. Ryan Selkis is also engaged in venture capital and angel investment.

On May 8, Ryan was invited to speak at the NFT dinner hosted by Trump. On June 3, Ryan donated $50,000 worth of USDC to the Trump 47 Committee.