by Bill Allison
President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee received millions of dollars in donations from firms in the cryptocurrency industry that’s already seeing special attention from his administration, disclosures filed with the Senate Office of Public Records show.
Coinbase Inc., Crypto.com, Galaxy Digital, Paradigm Operations and Payward Inc., better known as Kraken, each gave $1 million. Robinhood Markets, Inc., which offers a trading platform for digital currencies, contributed $2 million, according to the reports.
Once a crypto skeptic, Trump enthusiastically embraced the industry as an investor, entrepreneur and source of political fundraising. Among large donors to his campaign and super political action committee were venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
In his first week in office, the president tapped David Sacks, the venture capitalist he named as his crypto czar, to head a task force that includes top cabinet officials to promote US digital financial technology. They’re to consider regulatory reform and creating a digital asset stockpile.
Trump, who’s expected to easily surpass the $107 million he raised for his 2017 inauguration, received donations from other industries expecting more favorable policies from his administration. Chevron Corp. gave $2 million, a much heftier gift than the $525,000 it contributed for his first inauguration. Oklo Inc., which makes fission reactors that can run on nuclear waste, gave $250,000. Chris Wright, Trump’s pick to run the Energy department, sat on its board.
Companies in the renewable energy business also donated. Hanwha Q Cells America Inc., the US subsidiary of the German solar panel maker, gave $500,000, as did GE Vernova, a General Electric spinoff that manufactures everything from gas turbines to blades for wind power. The American Clean Power Association, a trade group that represents wind, solar, clean hydrogen and transmission companies, gave $100,000.
Among the flurry of executive orders he issued to start his term, Trump froze permits to new offshore wind power installations, a major setback for the industry, and invoked emergency powers in a bid to bolster domestic energy production.
His inaugural committee also received money from many donors who didn’t give the first time around. They include some who had earlier acknowledged they were doing so, such as Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., who each gave $1 million. Other new donors that gave that amount include health-care companies Bayer Corporation and Johnson & Johnson.
The disclosures offer a partial glimpse into some of the moneyed interests who paid hefty sums to help welcome Trump back to Washington. Organizations with in-house lobbyists are required to semiannually disclose their political contributions.
Trump’s inaugural committee isn’t due to release its complete list of donors to the Federal Election Commission until April 19.
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