Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, has pushed back against many of the claims made by a US senator regarding ties to the Trump administration.
In a Thursday X post, Shirzad responded to criticism from Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who claimed on social media that Coinbase was one of the cogs in US President Donald Trump’s “corruption factory” through its contributions to the political action committee (PAC) Fairshake and funding the 2025 inauguration.
The senator drew a direct correlation between the funding and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropping an enforcement action against Coinbase, which was filed during the previous administration.
In response to Murphy’s claim that Trump had demanded a “big donation from Coinbase for [his] ballroom,” Shirzad said the exchange was “proud to have supported the building of a new ballroom through the Trust for the National Mall,” adding that many companies had contributed to the fund.
Shirzad also took issue with the corruption claims, saying that Fairshake was a “non-partisan” PAC and that many public donations had supported previous inaugurations.
Trump initially announced the plan to build a 90,000 square-foot ballroom on the White House grounds in July, later saying the project would cost about $200 million and wouldn’t “touch” the East Wing — the historic section of the building that houses the Office of the First Lady.
However, photos taken last week revealed that the East Wing had been completely demolished as part of the ballroom construction, now estimated at $350 million according to Trump.
“Note that we’re not the general contractor, so we’re not the right target if you’re unhappy about how the project is proceeding,” Shirzad said in response to Murphy.
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Both comments on social media came a few weeks after a Coinbase representative attended a fundraising dinner at the White House for the ballroom project. Other attendees included Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a representative from Ripple Labs.
Coinbase declined to comment on questions from Cointelegraph regarding the amount the exchange had contributed to the Trust for the National Mall or the demolition of the East Wing.
Bigger presence for Coinbase in Washington under Trump?
The ballroom incident was not the first time Coinbase’s financial involvement through projects supported by the Trump administration drew the company into the spotlight.
In June, the exchange was prominently displayed among the list of sponsors for a 250th anniversary celebration of the US Army through a military parade occurring on Trump’s birthday. Coinbase’s involvement was through a one-time contribution to America250, a “nonpartisan initiative” behind a series of events for the US’ semiquincentennial.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently visited lawmakers amid a US government shutdown — entering its 31st day as of Friday — to discuss crypto market structure legislation. Republican leadership planned for the bill, titled the Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the US Senate, to initially be out of committee by the end of October.
As the shutdown continues with no end in sight, however, it’s unclear whether a crypto bill will be a priority in Congress.
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