Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Waukesha Expo Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin, US, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Daniel Steinle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump campaign announced Tuesday that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency donations, calling the move an act of solidarity with opponents of “socialist government control” of U.S. financial markets.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump can donate using “any cryptocurrency accepted through the Coinbase Commerce product,” his campaign said in a press release.
The announcement ties President Joe Biden, who is running for re-election against Trump, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a vocal crypto critic who has pushed to suppress the nascent industry.
“Biden surrogate Elizabeth Warren, in an attack on cryptocurrency, said she was building an 'anti-crypto army' to limit Americans' right to make their own financial choices,” the campaign said, citing a re-election ad . Warren posted on X in March 2023.
“MAGA supporters, now with a new cryptocurrency option, will build a crypto army to lead the campaign to victory on November 5!” the campaign said.
The move opens up a new source of potential funds for the Trump campaign, which still trails Biden in terms of cash even though it surpassed the Democratic incumbent in April.
Crypto donations are reported as in-kind contributions, just like stock gifts. The campaign can then decide to liquidate or hold the digital currency.
“Contribution limits and disclosure requirements for crypto donations will follow Federal Election Commission regulations,” the Trump campaign said.
The adoption of crypto is just the latest in a series of attempts by Trump to woo the crypto community, which tends to skew opinions. younger and more masculineaccording to April 2023 polling from the Pew Research Center.
In December, Trump sold a limited edition of NFT trading cards that could be purchased with cryptocurrency, for example.
Earlier this month, he hosted a fancy dinner for his NFT backers at the Mar-a-Lago club.
There Trump told crypto supporters that they “better vote for him” because the Biden administration is “against” crypto, Politico reported.
Tuesday's announcement from the Trump campaign labeled Trump as the “first major party nominee” to embrace crypto donations. But Trump won't be the official candidate until July.
And he's not the first presidential candidate to accept cryptocurrency donations.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is mounting a long-running independent presidential bid, announced in May 2023 that his campaign would accept bitcoin donations. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took over Bitcoin donations for his own presidential campaign in 2015.
