Author: Weilin, PANews
Recently, two super political action committees (Super PACs), Trump 47 Committee and America PAC, which are the main channels for Trump’s fundraising, have respectively submitted disclosure documents for accepting donations to the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC), and donations from several crypto industry leaders or crypto friends have surfaced.
Data shows that from April 1 to June 30, the brothers Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss have donated the most to Trump, with donations exceeding $2.5 million. Sequoia Capital partner Douglas Leone, former PayPal executive, and Kraken co-founder are next in line.
As the US election approaches, Trump's fundraising is also in full swing. Based on publicly disclosed information, PANews has taken stock of the major crypto industry-related donors who support Trump's campaign.
Winklevoss 兄弟 (Cameron Winklevoss、Tyler Winklevoss)
FEC records show that the Winklevoss brothers, founders of the crypto exchange Gemini and Winklevoss Capital Management, have donated $2.027 million in BTC to the Trump 47 Committee, which supports Trump, but due to federal individual donation restrictions, $310,800 will be returned.
Additionally, the Winklevoss brothers have each donated $250,000 to America PAC.
Douglas Leone, Partner at Sequoia Capital
Doug Leone led venture capital firm Sequoia Capital as a managing partner from 1996 to 2022, a position he stepped down from in 2022 but remains a general partner. During his tenure, Leone led Sequoia’s tech investments including Medallia, Rackspace, RingCentral, ServiceNow, and Nubank.
On June 4, he said, “I have become increasingly concerned about the overall direction of our country, our broken immigration system, our ballooning deficits, and our foreign policy missteps. Therefore, I am supporting former President Trump in the upcoming election.”
On June 14, he donated $1 million to America PAC.
Antonio Gracias, former Tesla board member, Valor Equity partner and CEO
Antonio is the founder, CEO and chief investment officer of Valor. Antonio founded Valor in 1995. He has over 25 years of experience in private equity investing. Antonio served as a director of Tesla from 2007 to 2021.
On June 28, he donated $1 million to America PAC.
Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies
Joe Lonsdale is the founder and managing partner of 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm with over $6 billion of capital under management. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR), a global software company best known for supporting the defense and intelligence efforts of the United States and its allies.
Lonsdale previously said that the combination of AI and cryptocurrency could be beneficial for both industries, suggesting that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana would benefit. On June 7, he donated $1 million to America PAC.
Kenneth Howery, co-founder of VC firm Founders Fund
Kenneth Howery is an American entrepreneur and diplomat. He is the co-founder of PayPal and Founders Fund. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden under Trump.
This time, on June 20 and June 21, he donated $1 million to America PAC.
Jesse Powell, co-founder of the crypto exchange Kraken
Jesse Powell, co-founder of the crypto exchange Kraken, started working with digital currencies as early as 2001. Before becoming a crypto OG, he was the founder and CEO of Lewt, a company that provided account management and in-game currency services to Diablo 2 gamers from 2001 to 2011. He is also the founder of the Verge gallery. Shortly after the advent of Bitcoin, Powell, who majored in philosophy and advocated libertarianism, quickly became a staunch supporter of cryptocurrency. He founded Kraken in 2011.
On June 28, he said in an X post: "I am excited to join other leaders in our community in uniting to support the only major party candidate in the 2024 presidential election who supports cryptocurrency so that the United States can continue to lead in blockchain technology." On June 28, he donated $845,000 worth of ETH.
Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire
Shaun Maguire is a partner at Sequoia Capital. Previously, he co-founded Expanse, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $800 million. He was also previously a partner at GV.
On May 31, within minutes of Shaun Maguire being found “guilty” in Trump’s hush money case, he announced a donation of $300,000 to Trump, saying the trial was unfair. Maguire published a long article on X, outlining a series of reasons for supporting Trump, including the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and its “weakness” in the Middle East.
Maguire added that the various legal proceedings against Trump have also been a "radicalizing experience." "It is a real possibility that President Trump could be convicted of a felony and sent to prison," he wrote. "Frankly, that is part of why I support him. I believe our justice system is being weaponized against him."
Later, on June 18, he donated $500,000 to America PAC.
Stuart Alderoty, Chief Legal Officer, Ripple
Stuart Alderoty is the Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, overseeing the Legal, Compliance and Regulatory business units. Stuart has over 30 years of legal experience with expertise in financial services and regulatory matters.
On June 11, Stuart Alderoty donated $300,000 in XRP to the Trump 47 Committee.
BitGo 的 CEO Michael Belshe
Mike Belshe is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of BitGo, Inc. and co-founder of Lookout Software in 2004. He is the co-inventor of the SPDY protocol and one of the main authors of the HTTP/2.0 specification.
On June 4, he donated $50,000 in BTC to the Trump 47 Committee.
Messari CEO Ryan Selkis
Ryan Selkis is the founder and CEO of Messari and a member of the founding team of Digital Currency Group and CoinDesk. Ryan Selkis is also engaged in venture capital and angel investment.
On May 8, Ryan was invited to speak at the NFT dinner hosted by Trump. On June 3, Ryan donated USDC worth $50,000 to the Trump 47 Committee.
