On July 18, Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of the Gemini crypto exchange, announced a notable political donation of $500,000 worth of Bitcoin to support John Deaton’s Senate campaign in Massachusetts.
Tyler’s twin, Cameron Winklevoss, matched this amount, totaling a $1 million contribution aimed at helping Deaton challenge Senator Elizabeth Warren, a well-known critic of cryptocurrency.
Tyler Winklevoss described Warren as a significant threat to American prosperity, claiming she has been influential in shaping anti-crypto policies through her role in the Biden administration. He criticized her for using her position to undermine the crypto industry and stifle innovation.
The Winklevoss brothers, along with Ripple Labs—which donated $1 million earlier this year to support Deaton’s campaign—are advocating for Deaton as a defender of crypto. Deaton is recognized for his legal defense of the industry and his criticism of regulatory overreach by agencies like the SEC.
The support from the Winklevoss twins and Ripple Labs reflects growing political engagement within the crypto community, though some, like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, caution against backing candidates solely based on their crypto stance.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has spotlighted a significant acceleration in institutional crypto adoption, driven largely by the surging popularity of exchange-traded funds and increased use of Coinbase Prime among major corporations.
Jefferies chief market strategist David Zervos believes an upcoming power shift at the Federal Reserve could benefit U.S. equity markets.
Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto custody bank, is urging its institutional clients to move away from major stablecoins like USDC, Agora USD (AUSD), and Usual USD (USD0), recommending instead a shift to the Global Dollar (USDG) — a stablecoin issued by Paxos and backed by a consortium that includes Anchorage itself.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has voiced concerns over the rise of zero-knowledge (ZK) digital identity projects, specifically warning that systems like World — formerly Worldcoin and backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman — could undermine pseudonymity in the digital world.