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The Trump campaign says it will begin accepting contributions via cryptocurrency
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gesture during a campaign rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, March 9, 2024. File photo by Alyssa Pointer/Reuters
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announced Tuesday that it will begin accepting donations cryptocurrency as part of an effort to build what he calls a “crypto army” ahead of Election Day.
Trump’s campaign has launched a fundraising page that allows “any federally authorized donor the ability to donate” to his political committees using any crypto asset accepted through cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
The ad promotes Trump’s message that he is a pro-cryptocurrency candidate, and also appeals to a select group of young male voters who are increasingly likely to dabble in digital assets. This came as Trump’s defense was based on his silence case in New York.
Cryptocurrencies are a digital asset that can be traded over the Internet without relying on the global banking system.
The Trump campaign is accepting a range of popular cryptocurrencies that include Bitcoin, Ether and Dollar Coin, and also include low-value coins that tend to be popular among internet personalities such as Shiba Inu Coin and Dogecoin.
Billionaire Elon Musk, in particular, is considered a fan of the latter two, which trade on the DOGE and SHIB markets.
It’s unclear whether Trump’s campaign will hold onto the cryptocurrency or sell it immediately, and what kind of fees it might pay to liquidate it. While the campaign says it wants to follow U.S. election laws, the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies can make it difficult to confirm that the funds are coming from who they say they are.
Trump has already received millions in cryptocurrency personally through his Trump digital trading card non-fungible token projects and its MAGA coin, released last August.
Julia Krieger, a spokesperson for Coinbase, told the Associated Press that “cryptocurrencies are nonpartisan and move money forward because they are cheaper and faster,” adding that the Coinbase platform is open to all candidates this election season.
A representative for President Joe Biden’s campaign did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment on whether it will begin accepting cryptocurrency donations.
While some states do not allow cryptocurrency donations in state races under existing campaign finance laws, the Federal Election Commission allows committees to receive bitcoin as contributions.
A 2014 advisory opinion issued by the commission concluded that bitcoin is “money or anything of value” under the law and that policy committees should value the contribution based on the market value of bitcoin at the time the contribution is received .
The presidential campaign for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is currently accepting bitcoin donations.
In conventional money, Biden and the Democratic National Committee said Monday that they raised more than $51 million in April, well below the $76 million that Trump and the GOP reported raising in the month.
Associated Press reporter Ken Sweet in New York contributed to this report.
Left: FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, March 9, 2024. File photo by Alyssa Pointer/Reuters