Analysis: Crypto Industry Donated $13M+ To Trump’s Inauguration, Then Administration Dropped SEC Lawsuits/Probes Against Five Donors Among Other Industry Gifts

Trump Also Included Two Donors’ Coins In National Crypto Reserve and Gutted DOJ Crypto Enforcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An Accountable.US review of donor disclosure data filed on April 20 shows that cryptocurrency-interested entities contributed over $13 million to Donald Trump’s second inauguration. These donations were followed with Trump administration actions beneficial to several major donors and the crypto industry at large including: at least five scuttled federal lawsuits or investigations into donor companies since his swearing-in; at least two donors’ crypto coins being added to the administration’s crypto strategic reserve effort that has been criticized by industry experts as a “gift to the industry” and “open corruption”; and an abrupt decision to dismantle the U.S. Justice Department’s cryptocurrency crime enforcement unit and disband the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

“Crypto insiders made a $13 million bet that Donald Trump would be a Pay-to-Play President, and it’s already paying off – with preferential treatment from gutted enforcement to policies that steer more money towards industry donors. While the President is going out of his way to potentially boost his own bottom line and enrich his wealthy crypto donors, working Americans are bracing for a massive new sales tax under his whiplash tariff policy and devastating health care cuts prescribed in his budget,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk. 

KEY FINDINGS:

• Ripple Labs gave nearly $5 million to Trump’s second inauguration. The Trump Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC) has since dropped a “yearslong case and appeal”—with potentially $125 million in fines—for alleged securities law violations. Trump also included Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency in his “strategic crypto reserve,” with XRP’s value surging by 33% following the announcement.
  

• Robinhood Markets gave $2 million, just weeks before it announced that the Trump SEC was dropping an investigation into Robinhood’s crypto arm. In announcing the dropped probe, Robinhood said it looked “forward to working with the SEC under this new administration” while criticizing the Biden SEC.
• Solana Labs gave $1 million, shortly before Trump included Solana’s SOL Cryptocurrency in his proposed strategic crypto reserve. SOL surged by 25% following Trump’s announcement.
• Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange, gave $1 Million, shortly before the company announced that Trump’s SEC was dropping a lawsuit accusing the company of acting as an unregistered securities broker and depriving investors of “‘critical protections.’”
• Circle Internet Group, which runs the “USDC” stablecoin, gave $1 million. On Inauguration Day, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said he expected Trump to issue crypto-friendly executive orders “‘imminently.’” Within days, Trump issued an Executive Order to “‘promote United States leadership in digital assets and financial technology’” and “‘establish regulatory clarity for digital financial technology.’”
• Payward, also known as Kraken, gave $1 million, shortly before the company announced the Trump SEC dropped a lawsuit against the company. Kraken previously agreed to pay $30 million in SEC fines and to cease certain crypto services in the U.S.
• Galaxy Digital Services LLC gave $1 million, after founder and CEO Mike Novogratz said Trump’s election represented “‘kind of a whole new world’” for the crypto industry and said he expected “‘one piece of good news every week’” from the Trump administration.
• Paradigm Operations LP, a “giant crypto-focused venture fund,” gave $1 million, while Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang was named to Trump’s working group on digital assets, which was called “a big political victory” for the crypto industry.
• Cypherium Blockchain Inc. Gave $125,000. Cypherium operates the CPH cryptocurrency, has worked on central bank digital currencies, has been involved with the Federal Reserve’s FedNow instant payment solutions program, and has been “known for being involved in Chinese blockchain projects.”
• Consensys, a blockchain company founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, gave $100,000 to Trump’s inauguration. Within weeks, the Trump SEC agreed to drop a lawsuit accusing Consensys of violating securities laws and taking $250 million in fees in the process.

###