- The Winklevoss twins got back $310,800 after they donated too much to Trump’s campaign, surpassing federal limits.
- Trump promises to ease crypto rules and make the U.S. a ‘Bitcoin mining powerhouse’ if he wins the election.
- The Winklevoss twins’ Gemini exchange faced legal trouble with the defunct Earn program but recovered $50 million for its users.
The Trump 47 Committee returned about $310,800 to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of Winklevoss Capital Management and the Gemini crypto exchange, after it was found that they had exceeded the contribution limit at the federal level. A campaign official told Bloomberg that each twin had donated $1 million in Bitcoin to former president Donald Trump.
According to federal law, presidential campaigns can only take up to $844,600 from a single person. It’s unclear if Bitcoin or its equivalent in cash was used to make this reimbursement. The contributions were split between the Republican National Committee, the 42 state party committees for Republicans, Trump’s leadership political action committee, and his presidential campaign.
Trump’s crypto appeal, legal challenges of Gemini
Besides this refund, Trump was not hostile to the crypto industry. The Winklevoss twins have lately attacked President Joe Biden for his anti-crypto policies, drawing a negative comparison between his position and that of Trump, who is said to hold “pro-crypto” beliefs. On June 20, Tyler Winklevoss wrote on X, “President Donald J. Trump is the pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business choice.”
Similar to other political candidates, Trump has pledged to make things easier for crypto if he is elected again. As recently as 7 June, Trump vowed to abolish Biden’s “war on crypto” within the first hour of becoming president, adding he was looking to earn the nickname “crypto president” while on his wish list was making the US a Bitcoin mining hub, Bloomberg reports.
It’s not just the Winklevoss twins, however, who represent industry figures supporting Trump. Policy head at Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms Brian Morgenstein posted, “President Trump will protect your right to own, mine, and transact with Bitcoin.”
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In late May, though, Trump promised to commute the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, creator of the defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road, to time served if re-elected. Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, told Decrypt crypto innovators are under attack by Biden and Democrats. On his part, he averred that as Biden stifles innovation with regulation and taxes, Trump will encourage American leadership in emerging technologies.
Furthermore, the Winklevoss twins are battling it in court. Gemini operated the now-defunct Gemini Earn program, which is used by holders to earn yield against their assets. It was jointly run with Genesis until the latter filed for bankruptcy in January 2023. The implication was that for months, users of Gemini Earn tried to retrieve their funds. By May, it had returned 97% of owed assets to Earn users.
The New York Attorney General’s office settled with Gemini, returning $50 million in assets. It said Gemini lied to investors about the level of risk involved in the Earn program.
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