The billionaire Winklevoss twins, who are the founders of cryptocurrency company Gemini, received a refund after their bitcoin donations to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign surpassed the maximum limit imposed by federal law.
A Bloomberg report stated that the excess amount above the legal limit was returned to the donors, with the information coming from an anonymous campaign official.
Why was a refund issued? Well, the twins publicly announced their donations totaling $2 million in Bitcoin on a social media platform called X. However, this amount exceeded the maximum legal limit of $844,600 that the Trump committee could accept from each individual.
It is unclear whether the Trump 47 Committee, which accepted the Bitcoin donation and usually focuses on larger contributors, returned the amount in Bitcoin or converted it to its equivalent cash value.
According to the report, the donated money is divided among various recipients, including the former president’s campaign, the leadership political action committee that covers his legal expenses, the Republican National Committee, and 42 GOP state party committees.
This donation by the Winklevoss twins reflects the growing relationship between the Trump campaign and the cryptocurrency industry, which is expected to play a significant role in the 2024 election. Investors and allies are rallying behind candidates who promise a less burdensome regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies.
As for the background of the Winklevoss brothers, they reportedly attended a fundraising event in June for Trump, which had a price tag of up to $300,000 per person. Additionally, they have donated approximately $5 million to the Fairshake political action committee and its affiliated groups. This PAC has been responsible for negative ads targeting lawmakers and supporting specific Democratic and Republican candidates.
In relation to Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the twins, many users have been struggling to retrieve the funds they invested in Gemini Earn, a program that allows users to earn interest on their crypto assets in collaboration with the now-bankrupt Genesis. However, users can now recover their Earn assets in the same form. Last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she had recovered around $50 million from Gemini for users who had been defrauded.
In February, Gemini agreed to return at least $1.1 billion to customers through the Genesis bankruptcy as part of a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services. Both Gemini and Genesis were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the Gemini Earn program in early 2020, but Genesis has since resolved the charges.
In summary, the Winklevoss twins received a refund for their excessive bitcoin donations to Trump’s campaign, reflecting the growing ties between the cryptocurrency industry and political campaigns. Meanwhile, users of the Gemini crypto exchange are finally able to retrieve their funds after a tumultuous period, thanks to the efforts of the New York Attorney General.