President Donald Trump had the most lavish inauguration week in history, thanks to a record $239 million in donations from corporate supporters and executives, according to a Sunday filing with the Federal Election Commission. A hefty portion came from the crypto industry, which has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters: Crypto firms and their leaders gave $18 million in inauguration donations to the 47th president. Other big donors include oil companies like Exxon Mobil, big tech firms like Google, and a lobby group for the U.S. vaping industry.
Ripple Labs, which has battled the Securities and Exchange Commission in a long-running court case, led the pack with almost $4.9 million. Ripple’s donation was the second largest among all donors. Pilgrim’s, one of the world’s largest poultry producers, gave the most with its $5 million donation.
Robinhood, the online brokerage that reaps a sizable percentage of its revenue from crypto trading, donated $2 million. Other large donors include some of the top names in the industry, including exchanges Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com. The stablecoin issuer Circle, which recently filed to go public, and venture capital titan Paradigm, which saw its assets under management soar to near highs in 2024, also donated $1 million each.
While many crypto companies had already publicly disclosed their donations to Trump’s inauguration, the Sunday filing shows the full extent to which the industry has showered the president with cash.
Under former President Joe Biden, the SEC led a widespread crackdown on the crypto industry as it alleged that the majority of cryptocurrencies are securities, or financial assets like stocks and bonds that must adhere to strict disclosure regimes. Faced with lawsuit after lawsuit, crypto executives amassed an unprecedented war chest and spent more than $130 million to sway congressional elections and elect pro-crypto candidates.
Crypto CEOs also rallied around Trump, who described himself as a “pro-crypto president.” Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the cofounders of crypto exchange Gemini, pledged $1 million apiece to Trump’s reelection campaign. And Kraken cofounder and chairman Jesse Powell also donated $1 million.
After he won back the White House, Trump ushered in a crypto-friendly administration. He hired an AI and crypto czar, authorized the creation of a strategic Bitcoin and digital assets reserve, and oversaw the defanging of crypto litigation units at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, and the Department of Justice.
The SEC has since dismissed lawsuits filed or threatened against donors to Trump’s inauguration fund, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, Uniswap, Yuga Labs, Kraken, and Ripple.
