Many of the nation’s leading cryptocurrency companies, executives, investors and fanatics are beginning to unite around former president Donald Trump, hoping their public embrace — and increasingly generous campaign checks — might entice and elect a presidential candidate who will spare the industry from federal regulation.
“This is the steel industry of 100 years ago,” Trump said in a direct appeal to crypto supporters here Saturday, promising he would turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world.”
Under President Biden, the U.S. government has aggressively cracked down on crypto, seeking to protect average Americans from scams and prevent the largely anonymous tokens from enabling illicit activities. But the fierce oversight has chafed crypto advocates and angered wealthy political benefactors in Silicon Valley. To ward off new federal probes, environmental protections and financial regulations, they have gravitated toward Trump — even if they don’t always like him — in the hope that he will deliver relief in Washington.
“I think what people are excited about is, if Trump comes in with a new circle, and Cabinet members, and people, that it’s going to change, and change for the better,” said Marshall Beard, the chief operating officer at Gemini, a crypto trading platform and banking service. He described himself as apolitical, but his company’s founders, billionaire investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, have donated heavily in support of Trump.
Trump has gladly accepted the entreaties: Newly awash in crypto cash, he has celebrated bitcoin and other digital tokens, marking a shift from his time in office, when Trump proclaimed he was “not a fan” of bitcoin and linked such assets to drug sales. The early uptick in fundraising support has troubled some Democrats, who have scrambled to show they are not hostile to the industry.
Trump’s conversion was on stark display Saturday, as he addressed thousands of bitcoin owners, traders and investors. In a winding speech, rife with attacks on Democrats, the former president pledged his administration would pursue crypto policies “written by people who love your industry” — even promising at times that the price of bitcoin would rise under his watch.
Even before Trump arrived, there were hints of growing support across the sprawling Music City Center. A smattering of “Make bitcoin Great Again” hats — some in bitcoin orange — dotted the rows of booths where crypto entrepreneurs hawked new tokens, investing tips and “tax avoidance strategies,” in the words of one firm, which parked near its kiosk a ruby-red motorcycle adorned with the play on Trump’s slogan. (Staff there declined to be interviewed.)
Outside, a digital sign truck periodically circled, flashing photos of Trump and his new running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), a longtime crypto advocate who has reported owning as much as $250,000 in bitcoin. The vehicle pitched passersby on “MAGA VP,” a type of “memecoin” — unaffiliated with the campaign — that aims to help the former president’s most fervent supporters earn money. It teased that customers who purchased $50 of the token would “win a special prize.”
“At this party, today, it seems like there’s a leaning toward Trump, and I think it’s an appreciation for the first major presidential candidate to come along and say this might be actually a really good idea,” said Mike Belshe, the chief executive of BitGo, which offers a crypto wallet service. He plans to host a fundraiser next week for Vance in Palo Alto, Calif., according to an invite obtained by The Washington Post.
The support for Trump underscored the rapid political awakening underway in the crypto industry. Stung by a series of major scandals — and facing the prospect of tough regulation in Washington — crypto companies, executives and investors have shelled out $121 million this election in a bid to defeat potential foes and elect new friends in Washington, according to the money-in-politics watchdog OpenSecrets.
“We’ve seen tens of millions of dollars pouring in, in an attempt to make sure anti-regulation politicians are the ones who take power,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a left-leaning watchdog group.
For many crypto titans, the…
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