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Trump campaign begins receiving cryptocurrency donations
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Waukesha Expo Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Daniel Steinle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
THE Trump campaign announced Tuesday that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency donations, characterizing the move as a move of solidarity with opponents of “control of the socialist government” on the American financial markets.
Supporters of the former president Donald Trump can donate using “any cryptocurrency accepted through the Coinbase Commerce product,” his campaign said in a press release.
The announcement binds the President Joe Bidenwho is running for reelection against Trump, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a vocal critic who has pushed to crack down on the nascent industry.
“Biden’s surrogate, Elizabeth Warren, said in an attack on cryptocurrency that she was building an ‘anti-crypto army’ to limit Americans’ right to make their own financial choices,” the campaign read, referring to a campaign ad. re-election Warren published on X in March 2023.
“MAGA supporters, now with a new cryptocurrency option, will build a cryptocurrency army leading the campaign to victory on November 5th!” the campaign said.
The move opens up a new source of potential funds for Trump’s campaign, which still lags Biden in terms of cash, even though he overtook the incumbent Democrat in April.
Cryptocurrency donations will be reported as in-kind contributions, just like stock donations. The campaign can then decide to liquidate the digital currency or keep it.
“Contribution limits and disclosure requirements for cryptocurrency donations will follow Federal Election Commission regulations,” the Trump campaign said.
The acceptance of cryptocurrencies is just the latest in a series of Trump efforts to woo the crypto community, which tends to skew younger and more maleaccording to an April 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center.
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In December, Trump sold a limited run of NFT trading cards which could be purchased with cryptocurrency, for example.
Earlier this month, he hosted a lavish dinner for his NFT supporters at the Mar-a-Lago club.
There, Trump told cryptocurrency supporters that “better vote” for him, because the Biden administration is “against” cryptocurrencies, Politico reported.
Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, has reflected his administration’s skepticism toward cryptocurrency and its leaders.
Hours before the Trump campaign began reaching out to cryptocurrency donors, Biden’s team sent out a fundraising message warning supporters that “crypto executives and oil barons are coming out for Trump.”
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond when CNBC asked for its views on accepting cryptocurrency donations.
The Trump campaign’s Tuesday announcement called Trump the “first major party candidate” to embrace cryptocurrency donations. But Trump won’t be the official nominee until July.
And he’s not the first presidential candidate to accept cryptocurrency donations.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is mounting a long-running independent presidential bid, announced in May 2023 that his campaign would accept bitcoin donations. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., agreed bitcoin donations for his presidential campaign in 2015.