New York’s billionaire Bitcoin twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have received a refund after their recent Bitcoin donations to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign surpassed the permitted limit under federal law. The brothers had each donated $1 million worth of Bitcoin to the Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. Unfortunately, the Trump campaign can accept a maximum of $844,600 per person.
The donation highlights the crypto community’s backing of Donald Trump’s campaign. Trump has repeatedly signified support for the crypt sector and has used this as a campaign point in his favor, and against President Joe Biden’s campaign.
Trump’s potential support of the industry if he becomes president could increase the adoption of digital assets as well as encourage developers to consider novel use cases. Already, digital assets are gradually penetrating industries like gambling and casinos with several options allowing bettors to use crypto. Anyone can find a list of crypto casinos online that support several digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as well as others like USDT, Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP, and USDC.
According to a campaign official who preferred to remain anonymous, the Trump campaign refunded the donors the amount above the federal limit. There are currently no details on whether the refund was processed using fiat or cryptocurrency.
In a long-form X post, Tyler mentioned that the amount donated was 15.47 BTC, while also confirming that Trump has his vote. Explaining his decision, Tyler criticized the Biden Administration for its “openly declared war against crypto.” According to Tyler, several government agencies have bullied, harassed, and sued good actors in the crypto industry, trying to destroy the sector. He also accused the Administration of abuse of power used for political gain. In general, Tyler suggests that the crypto industry will have no support if Biden continues. Minutes after Tyler’s post, Cameron also announced a separate 15.47 BTC donation.
Interestingly, The New York Attorney General (NYAG) added the Winklevoss brothers’ Gemini Exchange to a growing list of crypto companies it has brought action against over the last couple of years. According to a recent press release, NYAG Letitia James successfully recovered about $50 million from Gemini, for at least 29,000 New York investors, and more than 230,000 investors in general.
According to Attorney General James, Gemini “swindled” thousands of New Yorkers through its “bogus” Earn program, which was marketed as a program that allowed investors to earn returns on their deposits. However, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) says Gemini misrepresented risks associated with the program and then locked users out of their accounts. Following the settlement, Gemini Earn investors will receive their digital assets without taking any action.
“[The] settlement will make defrauded investors whole and should remind cryptocurrency companies that deceiving investors is illegal and will not be tolerated by my office,” wrote the NYAG.
The action against Gemini began last October when the Attorney General sued the exchange for lying to investors, assuring them the Earn program was low-risk. However, the OAG found that Gemini’s internal analyses showed otherwise.
The OAG’s enforcement action spreads past the crypto sector into the gambling industry, with the office recently arresting 17 people connected to a $22 million illegal gambling ring. The focus on illegal gambling activities could affect the growing crypto gambling sector if it draws the attention of the OAG or the New York State Gaming Commission.
