Emilie Choi, president and COO of Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), agreed on Tuesday that the company’s donation toward President Donald Trump’s ambitious ballroom project was made to maintain “good relations” with White House.
Donations Not An Issue, Says COO
During the Axios’ annual BFD Summit, Choi said that she doesn’t see a problem with the donation.
“I think if you go to D.C., there’s a lot of buildings that need to be updated, and so if private industry has to do that, it is what it is,” the Coinbase executive said.
Choi said Coinbase “made a check” to The Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit that is accepting and managing donations for the ballroom renovation.
She was asked whether the donation was intended “to keep good relations” with the White House. After a brief pause, she replied, “Sure.”
Coinbase didn’t immediately return Benzinga’s request for more details regarding the donation.
What You Need To Know About Trump’s Ballroom Project
The $300 million project, dubbed the most ambitious structural addition to the presidential residence in over seventy years, has been attracting significant attention and criticism.
The cost of the project is being covered by private donors and Trump himself, according to White House.
The White House released a list of donors last month, including major corporations such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR). Coinbase, along with Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) and Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP), were among the cryptocurrency-related donors.
However, the project has not been without controversy. Hillary Clinton, for instance, said that Trump is “destroying” the White House ballroom, highlighting the planned East Wing demolition.
Coinbase’s Lobbying Game
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., has been lobbying to get cryptocurrency-friendly candidates to Congress.
During the 2024 election cycle, it donated over $68 million to Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-focused super political action committee.
Price Action: Coinbase shares fell 0.49% in after-hours trading to $260.50. The stock closed 0.82% lower at $261.79 during Tuesday’s regular trading session, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Year-to-date, it has gained 5.43%.
As of this writing, COIN ranked high on Growth, an indicator of a stock’s combined historical expansion in earnings and revenue across multiple periods. Visit Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings to compare it to the "Mag 7" tech giants and the cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds.
Photo: David Esser / Shutterstock
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