**Crypto Donations Surge in U.S. Presidential Race**
A political action committee (PAC) backing Donald Trump has amassed $7.5 million in cryptocurrency to bolster his presidential campaign. The "Trump 47" PAC reported significant contributions in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), and stablecoins Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) from July to September.
Key donors include:
- BTC media group CEO David Bailey: $498,000 in BTC
- Ripple legal chief Stuart Alderoty: $300,000 in XRP
- Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss: $1.1 million each in BTC
Other notable contributions came from Chase Herro, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, and BitGo CEO Mike Belshe.
Meanwhile, the pro-Trump super PAC "Right For America" received $2.5 million each from a16z founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, raising $38.6 million this election cycle.
Crypto leaders are also backing Kamala Harris, with Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen donating $1 million in XRP to the pro-Harris PAC "Future Forward."
The crypto industry has significantly increased its political contributions, with nearly half of corporate donations in this election cycle coming from the sector. The Fairshake super PAC alone has raised over $200 million, focusing on media buys and opposing Democrat incumbents.