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Coinbase Rebuts Senator’s ‘Corruption Factory’ Claim Over Trump Ballroom Donation

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Coinbase is pushing again in opposition to allegations from Senator Chris Murphy, who accused the cryptocurrency change of collaborating in what he described as President Donald Trump’s “corruption manufacturing facility.”

The senator’s feedback adopted reviews that Coinbase contributed to each Trump’s inauguration and the development of a brand new White House ballroom.

In a put up on X earlier this week, Murphy claimed that the crypto change’s donations have been a part of a broader sample of political favor-trading.

“Here’s an instance of how Trump’s corruption manufacturing facility works,” he wrote.

He cited many examples, like Coinbase placing $46M into elections to assist Trump allies, sending him an enormous examine for his inauguration, Trump dropping the SEC lawsuit in opposition to Coinbase, after which Trump demanding a giant donation from Coinbase for a ballroom.

Did Senator Murphy Get It Wrong About Coinbase’s Trump Donation?

Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, publicly rejected the accusation, calling the senator’s claims “ridiculous.” Responding immediately on X, Shirzad stated Murphy’s assertion “ignored fundamental info” and outlined Coinbase’s model of occasions.

“Fairshake is a non-partisan tremendous PAC,” Shirzad wrote, referring to the political motion committee funded by a number of crypto companies, together with Coinbase.

“Ask your workers to lookup the general public disclosures, and also you’ll see that Fairshake supported a number of Democrats, together with three of your new Senate colleagues.”

He added that the PAC’s funding adopted all marketing campaign finance legal guidelines and was in keeping with long-standing follow, noting that “Presidential Inaugural Committees for many years, from Obama to Biden to Trump and earlier than, have been supported by public donations.”

According to White House disclosures, Coinbase, Kraken, and Circle every donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, whereas Robinhood contributed $2 million.

Coinbase Defends Donation as Lawmakers Demand Answers

Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, additional addressed the senator’s declare concerning the White House ballroom venture, saying Coinbase’s donation was a part of a broad company effort to help a federally acknowledged public venture.

“We’re proud to have supported the constructing of a brand new ballroom by the Trust for the National Mall, a 501(c)(3) accomplice of the National Park Service,” he wrote.

“Corporations from all industries donated as nicely. Note that we’re not the final contractor, so we’re not the suitable goal in case you’re sad about how the venture is continuing.”

The White House has said the ballroom, anticipated to value round $300 million, is being funded privately and won’t draw from taxpayer cash.

According to the official donor listing, Coinbase contributed to the trouble alongside different main firms akin to Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, in addition to crypto companies together with Ripple, Kraken, Circle, and Tether.

Notably, on October 30, lawmakers led by Senator Adam Schiff demanded a full accounting of all contributions, citing potential conflicts of curiosity.

Senate Democrats Probe Trump’s Crypto Connections After Coinbase Case Closure

Shirzad additionally addressed Murphy’s declare that Coinbase’s donations have been linked to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s resolution to drop its enforcement motion in opposition to the change.

The SEC sued Coinbase in 2023 for working as an unregistered securities change and for points associated to its staking program.

The case was dropped in February 2025 under the new SEC leadership, a transfer extensively seen as exhibiting a shift in Washington’s method to crypto regulation.

“The SEC lawsuits in opposition to Coinbase and dozens of different firms have been a part of a grotesque sample of bullying and abuse of energy by the earlier chair,” Shirzad stated, including that the present SEC’s resolution “was the suitable resolution on the deserves.”

The regulator has additionally dropped or paused its cases against different companies like Ripple Labs, Kraken, Gemini, Consensys, Robinhood, and Yuga Labs.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have intensified scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with the crypto business, notably after his recent pardon of former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

Lawmakers, together with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have accused Trump of granting favors to wealthy crypto executives.

The controversy has prompted Representative Ro Khanna to propose legislation banning elected officials from owning or launching cryptocurrencies.

Binance’s U.S. affiliate has additionally confronted allegations of political favoritism, with Murphy suggesting the corporate’s latest itemizing of the USD1 stablecoin was linked to Zhao’s pardon. Binance.US denied the declare, saying the itemizing was approved as a part of its “extraordinary course of enterprise.”

Coinbase’s response additionally got here amid renewed consideration to the corporate’s political affect.

During the 2024 election cycle, Coinbase and different crypto companies contributed over $45 million to the Fairshake PAC, which spent greater than $40 million to help pro-crypto candidates in each events.

The Center for Political Accountability reported in March that the crypto industry spent more than $134 million on the 2024 elections, a pointy enhance from earlier cycles.

The put up Coinbase Rebuts Senator’s ‘Corruption Factory’ Claim Over Trump Ballroom Donation appeared first on Cryptonews.

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