New FEC filings have confirmed that Ripple’s XRP donations made up the largest contributions from the crypto industry to President Donald Trump’s inauguration funds.
For context, the Trump transition team received a record $245 million in donations from hundreds of firms for Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. Notably, the FEC report indicated that $6.23 million was refunded.
Among the prominent donors who contributed to the fund were Ripple, Meta, Amazon, JP Morgan, and Microsoft. Ripple contributed $4.9 million, the second-largest single sum among all donors. Meanwhile, the largest donor was Pilgrim, which gave $5 million to the president.
Remarkably, this fundraising effort for Trump’s second term was the largest in history. It was more than double the $107 million raised for his first term and nearly four times the $61 million raised by the Biden administration.
Ripple Makes the Second-Largest Donation
Of the massive $239 million fund, the crypto industry collectively donated $18 million to Trump’s celebratory event. Ripple led the pack by donating $4,889,345.
As reported earlier, Ripple made its donation in XRP tokens to Trump, which helped finance the President’s three-day inauguration celebration.
It is worth noting that, in addition to Ripple’s capital commitment to Trump’s inauguration, individual executives from the company also donated to influence the November 2024 elections.
For instance, Ripple’s chairman, Chris Larsen, donated at least $1 million in XRP to support Kamala Harris, although she did not win the election. On the other hand, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, donated over $500K in XRP to support Trump’s election.
Other Crypto Businesses That Contributed to Trump’s Celebration
Beyond Ripple, other prominent businesses in the crypto space also generously donated to Trump, both pre-election and post-election. The recent filing with the Federal Election Commission reveals that Robinhood donated $2 million to Trump’s inauguration. This made it the second-largest crypto industry donation after Ripple’s.
Meanwhile, Circle, the issuer of USDC stablecoin, Coinbase, Galaxy Digital, Ondo Finance, Solana Labs, and Paradigm each contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
Notably, the crypto industry rallied massively to support Trump’s election and his celebration, as he had promised pro-crypto regulation. They sought relief from the hostile business environment the crypto industry experienced under the Biden-led administration.
Indeed, Trump is following through with his promises. He appointed a new SEC chair, Paul Atkins, who took office this week.
Additionally, the SEC has dropped its litigation against various crypto firms, including Coinbase, Robinhood, and Gemini. Ripple’s case is also on hold as the agency and Ripple explore a potential settlement.
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