FEC Filing Reveals New Crypto Donors to President Trump

We already knew crypto gave big to President Trump. But a disclosure form filed Sunday with the Federal Elections Commission revealed some donors whose contributions to Trump’s inaugural committee were previously unreported. 

Newly Revealed Crypto Majors Solana, Yuga Labs, and Uniswap’s Hayden Adams Gave to Trump’s Inauguration

Wanting to get off to a good start with a crypto-friendly administration, these companies and individuals contributed to a record-breaking haul for Trump.

A disclosure form filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission revealed a new slate of crypto donors to Trump’s inaugural committee. Among the previously unreported names are Solana Labs, a development team behind the eponymous $67 billion blockchain, Ethereum development studio Consensys, and Uniswap founder Hayden Adams. 

These donations, along with previously reported handouts from prominent crypto firms such as Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and venture capital giant Paradigm, contributed to a record-breaking $239 million haul for the Trump administration. 

So far, it appears that the money has been well-spent. The Trump administration has spent its first three months advocating for the speedy passage of crypto legislation governing stablecoins and market structure, announced the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, and has leaned on banking regulators to take a more favorable posture towards crypto firms. Perhaps most importantly, the SEC has dismissed or paused more than a dozen enforcement actions against major actors in the crypto industry, many of whom donated to the inaugural committee and attended the first White House Crypto Summit on March 7.

Read More: Major Bank Regulator Removes Key Rationale for Blacklisting Crypto Industry

Here’s what to know about the newly-revealed names.

Cantor Fitzgerald - $1,047,000 

Cantor Fitzgerald, which custodies most of the U.S. Treasuries backing the $140 billion stablecoin Tether, had been involved in fundraising for Trump’s first presidential campaign and given almost $9 million to a PAC supporting Trump’s 2024 run. However, its over $1 million contribution to Trump’s inaugural committee was previously unreported. 

The donation is notable because Cantor Fitzgerald’s longtime chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick was chosen as Commerce Secretary under the Trump administration. Lutnick has since handed control of the company to his 27-year-old son Brandon Lutnick. 

Solana Labs - $1,000,000

San Francisco-based Solana Labs, the for-profit engineering firm dedicated to technical development of the Solana ecosystem, donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee. It had not been previously reported that Solana Labs, its leadership, or founding team had contributed at all to funds that supported Donald Trump before his presidency or after inauguration. 

Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social in March that he wanted Solana's token SOL to be part of a strategic crypto reserve thatwhich also included XRP, ADA, BTC, and ETH. The post, and specifically the mention of SOL, XRP, and ADA, took much of the industry by surprise due to the fact that the tokens’ inclusion had not been publicly advocated for by the industry. Unchained reported that XRP had advocated for SOL’s inclusion, though Solana Lab’s donation also raises the question of whether Solana used it as leverage to advocate for the inclusion of SOL as well. 

Read More: How Did Ripple Sell Trump on XRP in a Crypto Reserve? By Pushing for Solana

Uniswap Founder and CEO Hayden Adams - $245,728

Hayden Adams gave just over $245,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. Though the amount is relatively small, it is notable given that Adams had previously signaled his support for Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris on X in September after a Cipriani Wall Street fundraiser. He had previously advocated for bipartisan support of crypto, despite the partisan advocacy that is reportedly favored by President Trump. 

“Kamala just said she will encourage innovative technologies like DIGITAL ASSETS,” the X post read. “I believe this is her first time referencing crypto publicly and it’s in a positive way.” 

The SEC closed its investigation into Uniswap for operating an unregistered securities exchange, engaging in unregistered broker or clearing firm activity, or issuing an unregistered security in February at a time when it was dropping most of its ongoing enforcement activity against crypto firms. 

Cypherium Blockchain - $125,000

Proof of Work blockchain Cypherium Blockchain gave $125,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee, despite maintaining a relatively low profile in the crypto industry. Though the firm is based in New York, it primarily serves Chinese blockchain projects, including developing a smart contract platform for the city of Suzhou, which also piloted China’s Central Bank Digital Currency. 

Yuga Labs - $100,000

Yuga Labs, the blockchain company known best for creating famous NFT projects like the Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and Meebits, also gave $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. The SEC dropped a probe into Yuga Labs over whether its NFTs were securities in early March after dropping most other crypto-related investigations.  

Read More: 5 Ideas Pitched at the White House Crypto Summit Behind Closed Doors

Consensys - $100,000

Consensys, a software company which primarily creates applications for the Ethereum blockchain, also gave $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. The SEC settled its case with Consensys over the MetaMask wallet in February. Consensys had also sued the SEC for alleged “regulatory overreach” in its investigations of blockchain software development on the ethereum network, but that lawsuit was dismissed in September. 

Previously Reported Donors

Donors listed in the filing also include the previously reported donations of $5 million from XRP-linked firm Ripple, $2 million from fintech Robinhood, which facilitates cryptocurrency trading, $1 million from crypto exchange Coinbase, $1 million from stablecoin issuer Circle, $1 million from Worldcoin co-founder Sam Altman, who is better known for co-founding the AI firm OpenAI, $1 million from the crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, and $250,000 from fintech PayPal, which facilitates cryptocurrency payments and trading, 

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