Standing under the “Bitcoin 2024” logo at a US crypto conference this summer, Donald Trump likened the “Bitcoiners” in the audience to the inventors and businessmen who pioneered the high-tech industry in the early 20th century. Ta.
“You are the modern-day Edison, Wright Brothers, Carnegie, Henry Ford,” he said. “My job is to set you free…and let you do what Americans do best…Win! Win! Win!”
Modern crypto industry heavyweights are betting big that President Trump will follow through on this promise. In the two years since the 2022 cryptocurrency crash wiped out many of the major companies in the digital asset industry, many of the surviving major companies have taken refuge in the Maga movement.
The industry has spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Mr. Trump, targeting perceived opponents in other races and unseating members of Congress, including the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
President Trump has promised a friendlier approach to digital asset markets after years of regulatory prosecutions and lawsuits under the Biden administration. His victory and proposed nominations for positions such as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission sent Bitcoin’s price up more than 40% to more than $100,000.
Trump’s rallies have already generated significant benefits for crypto supporters even before Trump took office. Those executives hope his return to the White House will usher in a golden age for the industry.
Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee in July © Bloomberg
brian armstrong
Age: 41 Title: Chief Executive at Coinbase Career: IBM and DELOITTE. Founded Coinbase in 2012
The founder of America’s most famous cryptocurrency exchange hailed President Trump’s victory as “the beginning of a new era” and has already met with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago to discuss potential crypto policies. expressing thoughts.
Armstrong is one of the key promoters behind FairShake, a superpack that has funneled money from wealthy crypto donors to friendly candidates. The company has spent $135 million leading up to the vote, making it one of the biggest donors this election cycle.
The entrepreneur tried to tread carefully along political lines during the US election, donating to both Republican and Democratic pro-crypto candidates.
He said his company has always tried to comply with legal requirements and became frustrated with the SEC’s strict stance on cryptocurrencies, which led to the SEC filing a lawsuit against Coinbase for not registering as a stock exchange. claims.
Mr. Armstrong owns 34 million dual-class shares of Coinbase, whose value has soared to $11 billion as the company’s stock price has risen since the results of the U.S. presidential election.
michael saylor
Age: 59 Title: Chairman of the Board, MicroStrategy Career: Co-founder and CEO, MicroStrategy 1989 to 2023
Once best known for his settlement with the SEC in 2000 over MicroStrategy’s two-year earnings misstatement, Michael Saylor is now the cryptocurrency industry’s most colorful advocate.
In one of the most extraordinary corporate transformations in history, he turned a business software company into the world’s largest Bitcoin holder. The company, which holds $43 billion in cryptocurrencies, is a leveraged agency for betting on the price of tokens.
Saylor has since used television, conference and social media appearances to promote Bitcoin, and in the past has called Bitcoin “humanity’s crown jewel” and “cryptocurrency to escape the flood of currencies.” It was called the ark of energy.
MicroStrategy stock has soared 550% this year. “All of my best investments were in networks that everyone needed, that no one could stop, and that few understood. Bitcoin is a monetary network,” he once said. .
As the price of Bitcoin rises, Saylor plans to buy more Bitcoin. He laid out a plan to buy $42 billion worth over the next few years, using MicroStrategy stock to pay for it. “Don’t be left behind,” he recently wrote to X. “Bitcoin is going fast and furious.”
Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss
Age: 43 Title: Co-Head of Gemini Cryptocurrency Exchange Career: Former Olympic rower, co-founder of WINKLEVOSS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT and GEMINI
Prime Minister David Cameron and his twin, Tyler Winklevoss (known for his dispute with Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook), have long been supporters of cryptocurrencies, and in 2012 they announced that Bitcoin was worth less than $15. I bought my first Bitcoin when I was there.
They were once considered relatively moderates, where trying to follow the rules is Gemini’s brand. But over the past two years, frustration with U.S. regulators has turned into fierce opposition. This idea was further intensified when the SEC sued Gemini over the legality of its failed loan products.
Cameron endorsed President Trump earlier this year, accusing the Biden administration and federal regulators of “dismantling our economic way of life and the systems that have made America the greatest country in the world.” He described outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler as “a disgrace who forever tarnished the SEC’s reputation.”
The twins are strong supporters of Trump, each contributing $1 million in Bitcoin to his campaign, spending time together on the campaign trail, and donating millions to Fair Shake. They are now hoping that Paul Atkins’ appointment as SEC chairman will “introduce common sense and a do-no-harm approach.”
Paolo Ardoino
Age: 40 Title: CEO of Tether Career: Founder of fincluster and Chief Technology Officer of Bitfinex
Tether, a privately owned digital dollar, has become the de facto reserve currency for cryptocurrencies. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has distanced himself from Trump’s inner circle because of his relationship with Howard Lutnick.
Lutnick, a co-chair of Trump’s transition team and a candidate for secretary of commerce, is Cantor Fitzgerald’s longtime chief executive and largest shareholder. The Wall Street brokerage owns a 5% stake in Tether, which is also a major customer.
Tether has issued over $138 billion of tokens and purchased vast amounts of US Treasuries as reserves to back them. However, its tokens are frequently cited by law enforcement agencies as being a preferred conduit for money launderers and human traffickers.
Ardoino, who joined Tether in 2017 as chief technology officer, became the company’s public defender. The Italians noted that Tether is working with police and other authorities around the world to crack down on fraud.
“If the US wants to kill us, they can press a button and kill us anywhere,” he told CoinDesk in October, just before the US election. “We are not going to fight the United States.”
Richard Teng
Age: 54 Title: Chief Executive Officer, Binance Career: Regulator of Abu Dhabi Global Markets, Chief Regulatory Officer of SGX Singapore Exchange
Richard Teng comes after the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was fined a record $4.3 billion last year and pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges related to money laundering and violating international sanctions. He was tasked with cleaning up Binance.
The Singaporean takes over from founder Zhao Changpeng, who spent four months in prison after pleading guilty to US criminal charges of failing to prevent money laundering and being fined $50 million. is. However, Binance’s fight to set itself apart from the past is far from over. It is fighting 13 charges from the SEC, including charges of market manipulation.
Teng, a former Abu Dhabi regulator and Singapore Exchange executive, has criticized public figures for being more cautious than his enthusiastic predecessor. Nevertheless, he is hopeful that Trump’s victory may open up the US market to Binance.
Trump recently said he had “injected some optimism into the market,” adding, “With talk of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve and more companies adding Bitcoin to their treasuries, we is on the brink of true mainstream global adoption.”
Vitalik Buterin
Age: 30 Title: Co-founder of Ethereum Career: Dropped out of university after winning Thiel Fellowship grant, launched Bitcoin Magazine
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin is swimming against the tide of the crypto industry’s heavyweights. Although his cryptocurrency holdings have reportedly turned the Canadian into a paper billionaire, Buterin’s business activities are not particularly commercial, with a focus on building the Ethereum cryptocurrency ecosystem through a non-profit foundation. I’m leaving it there.
This summer, as other crypto leaders endorsed Trump, Buterin published a 2,400-word blog post criticizing those who support the candidate simply because they are “pro-crypto.”
“Making decisions like this carries a high risk of going against the values that brought you into the crypto space in the first place,” he wrote.
Buterin, who founded Ethereum in 2013 at the age of 19, wrote that the cryptocurrency was born out of the “cypherpunk movement” and values of personal freedom and internationalism. Alongside a photo of himself sitting near Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, the Russian-born programmer warned that cryptocurrencies could appeal to “authoritarians.”
Without mentioning Trump by name, Buterin criticized two of the president-elect’s major policies: tariffs and tougher immigration regulations. He also criticized crypto investors who support “power-seeking narcissists” simply because the candidate “makes it easier to trade coins.”
brad garlinghouse
Age: 53 Title: Chief Executive of Ripple labs Career: Executive at Yahoo!, Senior Advisor at Silver Lake Partners. Joined Ripple in 2015.
The Harvard Business School graduate won a partial victory in court last year for his company Ripple Labs, after a judge ruled that selling digital tokens to the public does not violate securities laws. He became a hero in the industry.
Garlinghouse, a prominent contributor to FairShake PAC, told CBS’ 60 Minutes last week that FairShake was a response to what he saw as the SEC’s “war on cryptocurrencies.” Since the election, the value of XRP, the token associated with his company, has soared, making it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency.
Garlinghouse continued to make the case for the industry by wearing a “Fuck the SEC” T-shirt at a conference hosted by Kantar last month. He said he wants clear rules from the United States. “We’re not asking to be deregulated. We’ve been asking to be regulated,” he told 60 Minutes.
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz
Ages: 53 and 58 Title: Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz Career: Andreessen co-founded Netscape. Horowitz worked at Netscape. Together they co-founded Opsware.
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz’s decision to endorse Trump in July shocked Silicon Valley. Their combined contributions of $5 million to political action committees supporting Republicans reversed their long-standing support for Democratic candidates.
The billionaire pair run Andreessen Horowitz, the nation’s largest venture capital fund for cryptocurrency companies and technology. Andreessen has been a particularly outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s policies, saying on his podcast last month that the crypto and technology environment under the Biden administration felt like “oppression.” Trump’s victory “felt like a sore throat. . . . Every morning I wake up happier than the day before.”
They also donated $12.5 million each to Fair Shake. Mr. Horowitz has since switched his support to Mr. Trump’s rival, Kamala Harris, while Mr. Andreessen has doubled down on his support for Mr. Trump.
Post-election podcasts concluded that both would remain politically active. “This has to be a permanent role for us to play. We have to stay in place. . . . We have to fight and advocate for what we believe in. No.”
Additional reporting by Joshua Oliver
