Kraken Jesse Powell donates $1M in Crypto to Donald Trump Presidential Campaign

Jesse Powell, co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, announced on X that he has donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Powell said in the post, "The crypto industry has been under attack by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, and others for far too long." The Biden White House has permitted an enforcement campaign of unchecked regulation in spite of strong bipartisan congressional efforts to establish clear regulations. This approach is making the US less competitive as other developed nations implement comprehensive laws governing digital assets, he added.

“I'm thrilled to team up with other leaders from our community to support the sole major party candidate who supports cryptocurrency in the 2024 presidential election, ensuring that the US maintains its position as a pioneer in blockchain technology,” Powell said in the X post.

According to the post, the majority of the $1 million donation is made up of ether. Along with a picture of Powell and Trump reaffirming their alliance, the post also mentioned Ross Ulbricht with the hashtag #freeross. In 2015, Ulbricht was found guilty of starting and running the Silk Road, an online black market where people could buy goods and services anonymously, and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole plus an additional 40 years.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign has only raised $59,000 overall since it started accepting cryptocurrency donations in May. The campaign has been supported by donations from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the creators of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. Each of them has contributed 15.47 bitcoin, which is approximately $1 million in value, according to a report by blockchain analytics company Breadcrumbs. Based on an examination of blockchain data up to June 17, the campaign had raised less than $60,000 in cryptocurrency from just 218 donors; it is likely that the majority of donations came from Coinbase order books.

Jesse Powell co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken in 2011, and during that time, he faced multiple legal issues with the US government while serving as CEO. Kraken was penalized by the Department of Justice in 2022 for breaking sanctions by permitting traders from Syria, Cuba, and Iran to use its platform.

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