A newly formed pro-Trump super political action committee (PAC), America PAC, has recently garnered substantial financial backing from influential figures within the cryptocurrency community. This surge of support follows an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Prominent backers include Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, who each contributed $250,000 to the PAC, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records released on Monday. Additionally, the Winklevoss twins made a separate donation of $2 million in Bitcoin to Trump’s campaign last month.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is reportedly planning to donate approximately $45 million monthly to the PAC, as per a Wall Street Journal report. Although Tesla, under Musk’s leadership, holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet, it remains unclear if Musk has already made any contributions, as his name is not yet listed in the FEC records dated June 30. Efforts to contact Musk for confirmation have not yet yielded a response.
America PAC, established in June, focuses on voter registration, promoting early voting, and encouraging mail-in ballot requests in key swing states. By the end of June, FEC records indicated that the PAC had received $8.75 million in donations from 18 different entities, not all of which are associated with the crypto industry.
Notable contributors include Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies, who donated $1 million. Lonsdale has previously expressed that integrating artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency could be advantageous for both sectors, highlighting potential benefits for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Additionally, Sequoia Capital partners Douglas Leone and Shaun Maguire contributed $1 million and $500,000, respectively. Despite initially earmarking $500 million for new crypto projects in February 2022, Sequoia reduced this figure to $200 million 17 months later due to a liquidity crunch.
Kenneth Howery, co-founder of the venture capital firm Founders Fund, which focuses on emerging technologies including blockchain, also donated $1 million through multiple contributions, according to FEC records.
Former President Trump has actively sought support from cryptocurrency holders during his campaign, accepting crypto donations in May and expressing approval of cryptocurrencies at a Mar-a-Lago event for holders of his Polygon-based NFT collection. Last month, he specifically endorsed Bitcoin miners.
