Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have committed to donating $1 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) each to support the re-election of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a series of posts on June 20, the Winklevoss twins announced their plans to vote for the Republican Party candidate for U.S. President on Nov. 5. They stated that they would each contribute 15.47 BTC, which was roughly equivalent to $1 million at the time, to Trump’s campaign. The brothers asserted that Trump was “pro-Bitcoin” and “pro-crypto,” while claiming that President Joe Biden had shown hostility towards the cryptocurrency industry during his time in office.
Tyler confidently stated, “President Donald J. Trump is the pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business choice. This is not up for debate. Anyone who says otherwise is either misinformed, delusional, or not telling the truth […] It’s time for the crypto community to send a message to Washington that attacking us is political suicide.”
Tyler specifically referenced the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement actions against crypto companies under the Biden administration and the use of the banking system against these firms as part of Operation Choke Point 2.0. However, the Winklevoss twins did not mention the regulatory actions taken by the SEC during Trump’s tenure from 2017 to 2021.
It has been reported that the Winklevoss brothers attended a June fundraiser for Trump, which required a payment of up to $300,000 per person. They have also donated approximately $5 million to the Fairshake political action committee and its affiliated organizations. This PAC has been responsible for launching attack ads against lawmakers and supporting specific Democratic and Republican candidates for various offices.
Notably, the twins did not acknowledge Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in May, which could potentially hinder his bid for re-election. Despite leading the polls as the prospective Republican presidential candidate, Trump is scheduled to attend a sentencing hearing in New York on July 11, less than a week before the official party nomination is expected to be secured.
Amid his legal troubles over the past two months, Trump has organized a dinner for individuals who purchased a non-fungible token of his mugshot from a criminal case in Georgia. He has also announced that his campaign will accept donations in cryptocurrency and held meetings with executives from prominent mining companies. As a result of these discussions, Trump expressed his intention to ensure that all BTC mined in the United States originates domestically. President Biden has reportedly been considering accepting cryptocurrency donations for his own re-election campaign.
While many individuals on X showed support for the Winklevoss twins’ endorsement, some skeptics questioned Trump’s true intentions regarding crypto and whether he was seeking to emulate the crypto-friendly stance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an Independent candidate running in 2024. It should be noted that Trump referred to Bitcoin as a scam in 2021 after leaving office.
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