Donald Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday that it would now accept donations in digital currency, the latest move by candidates in recent elections to embrace the digital coins and votes of crypto enthusiasts.
The former president touted his program as the first crypto donation plan from a major party nominee.
The move also comes after a host of other political figures from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Vivek Ramaswamy to Rand Paul to Andrew Yang have all accepted donations in digital currencies in recent months and years.
Trump says the embrace of crypto is about freedom. In a release, his campaign said digital currency would “reduce the control of government on an American’s financial decision-making is part of a seismic shift toward freedom.”
The move is part of a recent reversal of Trump’s long-expressed skepticism of cryptocurrency. In 2017 he said he was “not a fan” and then as late as 2021 offered that bitcoin “seems like a scam” in a television interview.
He has changed his tune more recently and cast himself as a champion of the sector.
Trump is seeking crypto donations as he continues a sprint to try and close a fundraising gap with President Joe Biden after out-raising Biden in April.
Trump is still lagging in the overall money race and saw his haul last month elevated largely because of a single event featuring billionaires that raised more than $50 million.
This campaign trail development also comes as the crypto sector looks for wins in Washington this week.
The House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on an industry-friendly bill that would elevate the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to a leading regulator of digital assets and limit some of the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
2 crypto defenders in the 2024 field
The funds donated to Trump in crypto will be reported as an in-kind contribution — often compared to donating stock.
In any case, the digital coins are then likely to be quickly converted to cash with the Trump campaign pledging to comply with federal election laws and regulations.
The campaign says donors who are eligible will be able to use the Coinbase Commerce, which touts the ability to accept “hundreds of currencies.”
Trump’s move is just his latest outreach to the crypto sector during this campaign. One well publicized recent effort was the launch of Trump-themed NFT trading cards that people could buy using cryptocurrency.
Trump’s efforts to be the 2024’s candidate of crypto sets up a rivalry with independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the issue.
Kennedy already accepts donations in crypto and has often touted the sector. He has floated an array of perhaps fanciful ideas, from having the US government itself buy bitcoin to an idea to “put the entire US budget on blockchain.”
The independent candidate is making a pitch for the crypto vote down to the level of hosting bitcoin themed community events — at least two are on the books for this week — to tout his plans.
For his part, President Biden has taken a more cautious approach, with only sparing comments on cryptocurrency. The SEC under Biden-nominee Gary Gensler has been seen as an anti-crypto force by the sector in recent years after a host of enforcement actions in 2023.
Trump has also often tried to cast Biden as an enemy of crypto. Politico recently reported that Trump held a dinner for his NFT backers in Florida and told the crowd they “better vote” for him.
In Tuesday’s release, the Trump campaign also linked Biden with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. It said the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts aims to “restrict Americans’ right to make their own financial choices.”
Warren has emerged as a leading crypto critic, pushing for more oversight and citing the sector’s energy footprint.
Another voice — SkyBridge Founder and Managing Partner Anthony Scaramucci — says it’s actually Biden who would be better for crypto if he wins re-election this fall.
Scaramucci briefly served as Trump’s communications director in 2017 but has since emerged as a fierce critic.
He has tried to argue the point in recent months and added in a recent Yahoo Finance Live appearance, that Biden is “for the rule of law,” which would ultimately be beneficial for markets.
“I tell Bitcoiners, you are at risk if you get somebody that wants to destroy the institutions of democracy,” says Scaramucci.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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