KEY POINTS
- As per the fundraiser page, among the digital assets accepted are ETH and SHIB
- Trump's campaign said accepting crypto demonstrated the ex-president's stand as a champion of innovation
- Trump hosted NFT holders earlier this month at an event where he promised to 'stop' crypto hostility
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is now accepting donations in cryptocurrencies, his campaign team announced Tuesday, signaling the former president's further embrace of the emerging fintech industry.
"Today, President Trump's campaign has launched a fundraising page that provides any federally permissible donor the ability to give – through its joint fundraising committees – using any cryptocurrency accepted through the Coinbase Commerce product," the campaign team said in a statement Tuesday. "This addition to President Trump's already groundbreaking digital fundraising operation marks the first time a major party Presidential nominee has embraced cryptocurrency for donations," the statement added.
The team also said that while the current president's "surrogate" Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is building an "anti-crypto army," Trump will establish his own crypto army that will help the ex-president win the 2024 election.
The dedicated crypto fundraiser states that the development is a demonstration of the former president's "success as a champion of American freedom and innovation." Among the coins accepted, as per the fundraiser page, are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum's Ether (ETH), Solana's Sol (SOL), USD Coin (USDC), and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
News of the Trump 2024 campaign accepting digital assets in donations came about two weeks after he told attendees of a non-fungible token (NFT) event he hosted at Mar-a-Lago that he will "make sure" his supporters can donate to his presidential run using crypto.
You can donate to the Trump campaign with crypto!!
— borovik (@3orovik) May 9, 2024
Vote for the PRO crypto candidate!! pic.twitter.com/iuxfAUwE4h
Trump made several promises during the said event, including an oath to "stop" the country's hostile approach toward regulating the digital assets sector. He acknowledged that "crypto is moving out of the U.S. because of hostility." He also urged other crypto users and enthusiasts to vote for him if they "like crypto in any form."
The business mogul has been signaling a softening stance toward the sector in recent months – a stark difference from his views several years back, when he expressed skepticism over Bitcoin, the world's largest digital asset by market value.
Bitcoin advocate and blockchain pioneer Brock Pierce told International Business Times in March that the business magnate's turnaround suggests he now recognizes that digital assets have a "place" in the financial future of the country he wants to lead for a second time.
A March poll had shown that 48% of voting crypto users are planning to vote for Trump against 39% who want to vote for incumbent President Joe Biden, whose administration has been criticized by some in the crypto space for allegedly wanting to "kill" the sector.
