Tracking Trump's campaign wallets
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Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss donated so much bitcoin to the Trump campaign that some of it had to be returned. According to blockchain analysis, however, not many others have been following their lead.
Between the lines: Aside from the Winklevii's 15.47 BTC apiece donation</a> last week, other on-chain contributions have totaled just $60,000, according to James Delmore, blockchain analyst at Singapore-based Breadcrumbs.
How it works: 🍯 Delmore used honeypotting to identify which wallets belonged to the Trump campaign, donating the equivalent of $1 on-chain to see where the money goes.
One thing he found was that the Winklevosses' BTC-denominated donations were sent to a different fundraising committee than the one connected to Trump's presidential campaign website.
- Trump's campaign website directs funds to the Trump National joint fundraising committee with the RNC.
- The Winklevosses sent their donation to the Trump 47 Committee, which filters to the Save America political action committee that often covers the former president's legal bills.
The intrigue: The Winklevii reportedly were refunded some of the donation because they exceeded the federal maximum individual contribution limit, but that refund hasn't so far been detected on-chain, per Delmore.
💭 Crystal's thought bubble: It would be funny/sad if the pair's crypto donation flub led to their getting a refund in fiat... after the slide in BTC prices.
Follow the money: While Trump has been thumbs-upping the industry, he appears to prefer the value of a dollar over crypto.
Some of the donations to his U.S. presidential campaign are accepted via a Coinbase service called Commerce.
- One wallet Delmore identified as belonging to the Trump campaign only accepts or holds Circle's dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDC.
- Donations not made in USDC — regardless of whether funds were sent via Base, Ethereum or Polygon — are converted before reaching the Coinbase hot wallet belonging to the Trump campaign, he said.
Yes, but: Delmore thinks the majority of crypto donations to the Trump campaign are likely just sent to Coinbase and recorded on their servers because it's... cheaper and faster.
- Case in point: He spent $24 in gas fees to send his $1 on Ethereum to set up his research, he said.
The bottom line: There might be more crypto donated to Trump's campaign off-chain, but we're blind to how much that is until figures are reported monthly.
