Bitcoin investors and Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, received a refund after their Bitcoin BTC/USD donations to former President Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign exceeded the legal limit under federal law.
What Happened: The Winklevoss twins, who are known for their dispute with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and are now managing Winklevoss Capital Management, donated Bitcoin equivalent to $1 million each to the presumptive Republican nominee. This donation surpassed the maximum legal limit of $844,600 per person.
The excess amount was refunded to the donors, as confirmed by an anonymous campaign official.
It is still unclear whether the Trump 47 Committee, the recipient of the Bitcoin donation, refunded the amount in Bitcoin or cash, reports Bloomberg.
The donated funds were distributed among Trump’s campaign, the leadership political action committee covering his legal bills, the Republican National Committee, and 42 GOP state party committees.
Tyler Winklevoss described Trump as the “pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business choice” in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Why It Matters: The Winklevoss twins also operate the Gemini crypto exchange. After their joint venture with the now-bankrupt Genesis, many users struggled to recover funds invested in Gemini Earn, a yield-earning crypto assets program.
The New York attorney general recently recovered about $50 million from Gemini for users who were allegedly defrauded. This incident has raised questions about the twins’ involvement in the crypto industry.
Trump has been actively courting the crypto industry, accepting crypto donations and discussing cryptocurrency policy with Elon Musk.
The former president also met with Bitcoin miners at his Florida resort earlier this month and pledged to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the convicted founder of the Silk Road online marketplace, at the Libertarian Party convention. This move is seen as a strategic effort to gain support from the crypto community for his 2024 presidential campaign.
This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo: Shutterstock
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