Gemini sent $10M in Bitcoin to Trump PAC after joint motion with CFTC

With a court set to consider a reversal of a $5 million settlement from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC’s) case with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, the company has sent $10 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to a super political action committee (PAC) supporting President Donald Trump.

According to the MAGA Inc. Super PAC’s July report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filed on Monday, the Gemini Trust Company run by co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss sent two separate contributions of more than $5 million in Bitcoin on June 19. 

The donation, which the PAC may use for independent expenditures to support Trump, was recorded about three weeks after the CFTC filed a joint motion with Gemini in federal court in an attempt to reverse a January 2025 settlement over the company allegedly making false or misleading statements. CFTC Chair Michael Selig claimed at the time that the agency under former US President Joe Biden “politically targeted” the Winklevosses through enforcement actions.

In addition to the recent MAGA Inc. contributions, the Winklevoss brothers each donated $1 million to Trump’s 2024 election campaign and supported the then-candidate through social media posts.  Following Trump taking office in January 2025, the twins attended the signing ceremony for a stablecoin payments bill, the GENIUS Act, backed his sons’ crypto mining venture American Bitcoin and contributed $21 million in Bitcoin to the Digital Freedom Fund PAC in an effort to “support President Trump and his administration’s efforts” related to crypto policy.

Related: Crypto companies have spent $189M so far on 2026 US election cycle: Report

Since attorneys filed the joint CFTC-Gemini motion with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in May, there has been no decision posted to the public docket. Cointelegraph reached out to the CFTC and Gemini’s counsel, 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 penalty will not be returned to Gemini” if granted by the court.

In a June letter to Selig, Senator Elizabeth Warren called the joint motion for reversal and other factors as “concerning signs of a CFTC beholden to political pressures and interests of the wealthy insiders, unbound by the rule of law and failing to protect investors and market integrity.”

As of June 30, MAGA Inc. reported receiving more than $397 million.

Selig remains sole CFTC commissioner with no nominations announced

The CFTC chair, a Republican who was confirmed by the US Senate in December 2025, remains the only member in what is usually a bipartisan group of five commissioners heading the agency.

Many lawmakers have been pressing Trump to announce additional nominations for the 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 authority in regulating and overseeing digital assets.

As of Thursday, the White House had not announced any nominations for CFTC commissioners, leaving Selig to largely direct the agency’s agenda.

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