As a court is set to consider overturning a $5 million settlement in the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) case with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, the company sent $10 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to a super political action committee (PAC) supporting President Donald Trump.
According to MAGA Inc. Super PAC’s July report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filed Monday, the Gemini Trust Company led by co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss sent two separate contributions of over $5 million in Bitcoin on June 19.
The donation, which the PAC can use for independent expenditures to support Trump, was recorded about three weeks after the CFTC filed a joint motion with Gemini in federal court seeking to overturn a January 2025 settlement regarding the company’s false or misleading statements. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig claimed at the time that the agency led by former U.S. President Joe Biden had “politically targeted” the Winklevosses through enforcement actions.
In addition to recent MAGA Inc. contributions, the Winklevoss brothers each donated $1 million to Trump’s 2024 election campaign and supported the then-candidate via social media posts. After Trump took office in January 2025, the twins attended the signing ceremony for a stablecoin payments bill, the GENIUS Act, supported his sons’ crypto mining business, American Bitcoin, and contributed $21 million in Bitcoin to the Digital Freedom Fund PAC in an effort to “support the efforts of President Trump and his administration” related to crypto policy.
Related: Crypto companies have spent $189 million so far on the 2026 US election cycle: report
Since the attorneys filed the joint CFTC-Gemini petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in May, no decision has been released. Cointelegraph reached out to the CFTC and Gemini attorney Avi Perry for comment on the $10 million contribution but did not receive an immediate response. A CFTC spokesperson told Cointelegraph in June that both sides “agreed that the $5 million fine would not be returned to Gemini” if the court granted it.
In a June letter to Selig, Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the joint motion for a reversal and other factors such as “regarding signs of a CFTC beholden to political pressures and the interests of wealthy insiders, unbound by the rule of law, and incapable of protecting investors and market integrity.”
As of June 30, MAGA Inc. reported receiving more than $397 million.
Selig remains the only CFTC commissioner without any announced appointments
The CFTC chairman, a Republican confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2025, remains the only member of what is usually a bipartisan group of five commissioners to lead the agency.
Many lawmakers have been pressuring Trump to announce additional nominations for financial regulator as Congress considers comprehensive crypto market structure legislation, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The bill is expected to give the CFTC significant power in regulating and monitoring digital assets.
As of Thursday, the White House had not announced any nominations for CFTC commissioners, leaving Selig to largely drive the agency’s agenda.
Review: Here’s Why the CLARITY Act Ethics Agreement May Be So Difficult to Achieve
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