Trump's "crypto income": How did he make a net profit of ten million dollars?

Author: shushu, BlockBeats

Since Biden's withdrawal from the race, the U.S. presidential election has entered a new round of public opinion dynamics. The Financial Times analyzes that Harris's digital ad spending has reached ten times that of Trump, mainly focusing on promotional efforts on tech platforms. Additionally, during the conversation between Trump and Musk on the evening of August 12, Trump did not discuss any cryptocurrency-related topics, which left the market somewhat disheartened. Currently, predictions on Polymarket show that Harris's probability of winning has surpassed Trump's by 10%.

If the most concerning topic in the cryptocurrency field for 2024 is the U.S. election, related meme coins are flying around, and every meeting of political figures is not to be missed, igniting the prediction market once again. At the center of this vortex is former U.S. President Trump, who has transformed from a cold politician towards crypto to a new presidential candidate who supports Bitcoin with a raised fist. Crypto has become a new breakthrough point for Trump's campaign this year.

In June this year, Trump met with about a dozen Bitcoin mining executives and experts at Mar-a-Lago. According to CNBC, attendees described his opinions as filled with curiosity and a spirit of collaboration, and ordinary people needed to purchase Trump NFTs to qualify for the dinner. Last month, Trump also served as a keynote speaker at the Bitcoin conference held in Nashville, promising that if re-elected, he would make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the earth and a Bitcoin superpower."

Forbes estimates Trump's net worth at $4.5 billion. Last week, Trump's latest financial disclosure showed that he earned $7.15 million from NFTs, and he also has at least $1 million to $5 million in crypto assets. Below is a summary from BlockBeats based on public addresses and data regarding how much Trump has earned from cryptocurrency.

Political Donations: Totaling $5 Million

In May this year, Bloomberg reported that donations from the crypto industry for the 2024 U.S. election had reached $94 million, a record high, with most donations coming from political action committees (PACs). On May 21, Trump's presidential campaign team announced that it would begin accepting cryptocurrency donations, becoming the first major party presidential candidate in the U.S. to accept crypto as campaign donations.

Currently, there are two fundraising committees accepting cryptocurrency donations for Trump's campaign: Trump National Committee JFC, Inc. and Trump 47 Committee.

Public Donation Addresses

According to Arkham data monitoring, Trump's public address holds over $3.4 million in crypto assets, having fallen over 80% from this year's peak.

The peak asset value of this address reached $18 million, mainly benefiting from the surge of meme coins related to Trump.

Trump National Committee

According to Trump's campaign website, 90% of donations to the Trump National Committee are allocated to the 2024 presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump (up to $3,300), while the remaining 10% goes to the Republican National Committee (up to $413,000).

Coinbase Commerce, Gemini, and Anedot are processing on-chain donations to the Trump National Committee. Below are the cryptocurrency addresses for donations to the Trump National Committee.

Coinbase Address:

0XE7E1AE3800B9D32751BBB3C2D0CE030F829AEF77

Gemini Addresses:

18UI9MKKLG5AZTHLOKFZLXMBXUJ8KMFWDN

0X42E10319C944C5FB7FCD76BFFB0DD3C3DEB605D8

0X18C8314C9BD4A378E4D612873A1899378EDD671D

Anedot Address:

3EFBD4KDPCEK7HOBUKOXJR2TERJCKBMELK

As of now, the cryptocurrency donations to Trump's campaign team through new platforms like Gemini and Anedot have been minimal.

Trump 47 Committee

The Trump 47 Committee is a joint fundraising committee authorized by Trump for President 2024, Inc., Save America PAC, the Republican National Committee (RNC), and federal accounts of Republican parties in over 40 states.

The maximum donation an individual can provide to the Trump 47 Committee is $844,600. Individual donations are allocated according to the following formula:

• The first $3,300 goes into Trump's presidential primary account
• The next $3,300 will be transferred to Trump's presidential election account
• The next $5,000 will be used for Save America
• The next $413,000 will be donated to the RNC
• The remainder will be divided among state Republican parties

For example, on June 21, Gemini co-founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss donated approximately $1 million worth of Bitcoin (15.47 BTC) to Trump's campaign team, exceeding the maximum individual donation limit of $844,600 that the 47 Committee can legally accept, resulting in $310,800 being refunded.

According to OpenSecrets, as of June 30, the top ten political action committees supporting Trump have raised about $255.9 million, but a significant portion of this comes from traditional finance and dollar donations.

In the second quarter FEC disclosure documents submitted by Trump's campaign team, individuals who donated cryptocurrency to Trump's campaign included the Winklevoss twins, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, BitGo CEO Michael Belshe, and Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, with a total donation of nearly $2.9 million in crypto assets. Additionally, according to breadcrumbs data, since accepting BTC donations in May 2024, at least $1.8 million worth of BTC has been donated to Trump's campaign team.

Currently, aside from on-chain data and FEC documents, it is unclear how much Trump has raised in total, but the campaign team will submit FEC documents in the future to clarify how much they have raised this quarter, at which point the proportion of crypto assets in the total donations can be calculated.

"Trump Card" NFT Series Revenue: Totaling $7.15 Million

According to Trump's financial disclosure, in addition to reporting crypto assets valued between $1 million and $5 million based on Ethereum, Trump has earned over $7.15 million from three NFT series. Furthermore, Trump's wife has also earned over $330,000 from the sale of digital trading cards or NFT transaction fees. Trump stated in July that he plans to release another NFT series.

In December 2022, Trump launched his first NFT series "Trump Digital Trading Cards," which sold for $99 each and sold out in less than a day.

Historical Price Chart of Trump Digital Trading Cards

In 2023, Trump released two new NFT series "Trump Digital Trading Cards Series 2" and "Mugshot Edition," and introduced NFT benefits such as Trump dinners, signed memorabilia, etc.

Historical Price Chart of Trump Digital Trading Cards Series 2

Historical Price Chart of Mugshot Edition

OpenSea data shows that in terms of total trading volume, Trump's first two NFT series are more popular, with trading volumes of 15,812 ETH and 22,080 ETH, respectively. Given that all sales incur a 10% royalty fee for the creator, since its launch, the first series NFT project has generated $19 million in sales, earning $1.425 million after deducting OpenSea's 2.5% fee.

It is unclear how much personal profit Trump has made from the NFTs, as the former president, political action committees, and his campaign team did not directly participate in the design or minting of the NFTs, which were instead completed by a company called NFT INC LLC.

Trump earned $4.9 million from the NFT licensing agreement with NFT INT LLC, the company behind the issuance of Trump's NFT series, which has generated millions in sales and royalties. NFT INT LLC states on its digital trading card website that it is an independent entity. "NFT INT LLC is not owned, managed, or controlled by the Trump Organization or Donald J. Trump. NFT INT LLC uses the name, likeness, and image of Donald J. Trump under a paid license from CIC Digital LLC." According to disclosures released by CREW, Trump is listed as the manager, president, secretary, and treasurer of CIC Digital LLC.