Winklevoss twins get Bitcoin donation refund from Trump campaign: Bloomberg
Federal law allows Trump to receive only $844,600 from each supporter, meaning the excess $155,400 from each donation was returned to the donors.
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Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the American entrepreneurs behind Winklevoss Capital Management and crypto exchange Gemini, got back part of their Bitcoin donations from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign after the funds surpassed federal limits, according to a recent report from Bloomberg.
The twins said in recent posts that they donated $1 million worth of Bitcoin each to Trump’s campaign. However, under federal law, the campaign could only receive $844,600 from each supporter, which means the Winklevoss twins’ donations exceeded the legal limit, and the excess $155,400 was returned, a campaign official told Bloomberg.
The donations were intended to be distributed among Trump’s campaign, his legal fund, the Republican National Committee, and various GOP state parties. Tyler Winklevoss expressed support for Trump as the “pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto” candidate on social media.
I also just donated $1 million in bitcoin (15.47 BTC) to @realDonaldTrump and will be voting for him in November.
Here’s the TL;DR — President Trump is:
Pro-Bitcoin
Pro-Crypto
Pro-BusinessAnd he will put an end to the Biden Administration's war on crypto. Onward! https://t.co/r6iDP7BdbE
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) June 20, 2024
Trump has positioned himself as a pro-crypto candidate since launching his 2024 presidential campaign, constantly making statements supporting crypto and criticizing how Biden’s administration handles the industry.
While Trump’s fresh stance on crypto has gained strong support from numerous crypto community members and leaders, his crypto fundraising efforts have not been as successful as his traditional fundraising.
According to analysis by Breadcrumbs, a blockchain data firm, Trump’s campaign has only raised around $59,000 in crypto donations from 218 wallets across the Ethereum, Polygon, and Base blockchains as of June 17. This is a relatively small amount compared to the over $260 million the campaign has raised through traditional means.
Breadcrumbs data analyst James Delmore told DL News that the difficulty of on-chain donations appear to be a key factor limiting Trump’s crypto donation. In addition, Ethereum’s high transaction fees discouraged some potential donors.
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