- Donald Trump has positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in the race for the American presidency.
- He raised $12 million from the crypto industry at a fundraiser in California.
Trump bullish. Week after week, Donald Trump establishes himself as the pro crypto candidate in the race for the American Presidential and even if some still doubt the sincerity of the character, his positions stand out in a political environment where cryptos were still up to recently persona non grata. All this started as a joke with a collection of NFTs not exactly in the best taste, but today, less than five months before a vote that could change the course of history, the Trump camp has managed to attract the favors of the Web3 industry and it is now forcing the Democrats to take a stand.
On June 6, the campaign team and the Republican candidate were in Silicon Valley to raise funds and the welcome was more than warm since 12 million dollars were donated by industry leaders. We take stock of this electoral campaign which fascinates well beyond the United States.
Candidate Trump raises 12 million in Silicon Valley from crypto industry players
California in general and San Francisco in particular are historic democratic strongholds and during the last presidential elections, Joe Biden thus collected more than 85% of the city’s votes, but the situation is changing. Imperceptibly, certain dams are beginning to crack and the Republican candidate is managing to convince many economic decision-makers of the benefit of voting for him, or at least against the Democratic camp. Jacob Helbergadvisor to data analysis provider Palantir and staunch Democrat until 2021, for example, gave 1 million dollars in the countryside Trump and describes this movement that he observes around him:
“In 2016, the number of people I knew in Silicon Valley who supported Trump could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Today, I count them by the dozen, if not more. Over the last six months we have started to see the dam break. »
Jacob Helberg, advisor to data analytics provider Palantir and former Democratic backer – Source: reuters.com
When explaining this turnaround, this specialist cites pell-mell “the American economic situation, border security and immigration, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but above all the excessive regulation against cryptocurrency” and finally the cabal to which Donald Trump is the subject on the part of the justice system, “too politicized” according to him.
The ex-president emerges as the pro crypto candidate
As part of his campaign and in a rather favorable context, Donald Trump therefore moved into hostile territory to try to raise funds and the result lived up to expectations. Head to the very chic neighborhood of Pacific Heights, in San Francisco, and the no less chic residence of Mr and Mrs Sachs to take stock of a support evening organized for the self-declared pro crypto candidate. The venture capitalist David Sachs and his wife Jacqueline organized an event in their charming mansion, attended by Chamath Palihapitiya, also an investor in the digital and new technologies sector. The entrance ticket cost $500,000 per couple for the best places and everything was sold out for a long time!
On site, we notably saw the Winklevoss brothers or Trevor Traina, commercial director of Tools for Humanity, but also numerous local and national political figures as well as several representatives of large companies whose discretion was guaranteed by the organizers. If we are to believe several sources present at the evening, there are no less than 12 million dollars which were thus collected for the campaign of candidate Trump who appeared “relaxed, happy and made jokes to the audience” according to Republican National Committee member Harmeet Dhillon.
Slightly ahead in the polls, Donald Trump does not seem to be suffering from the latest legal decisions against him and he has found in Web3 a favorable breeding ground to express his difference with the Democrats. The latter and President Biden in the lead are widely criticized for their crypto policy and in particular the support given to Gary Gensler which crystallizes the anger and fears of a sector determined to take its destiny in hand.
