Ripple went all-in on politics this year — and it paid off spectacularly. The oldest, most experienced, and wealthiest altcoin-focused company, Ripple’s multi-year initial coin offering (ICO) started in February 2013 and ultimately raised $1.3 billion — a breathtaking sum during crypto’s early years.

Three of the project’s co-founders, Chris Larsen, Brad Garlinghouse, and Jed McCaleb, are now billionaires and the market cap of its flagship XRP token is up $88 billion year-to-date.

Working in the industry for over a decade, its leaders have learned what types of activities do and do not make an impact. As one of the world’s first ICOs, they created the playbook for millions of subsequent token offerings and continue to find ways to engage their community of holders.

In 2024, the correct choice was prioritizing politics.

Millions in politics donations for billions in crypto gains

In the five weeks since the US election, XRP has quadrupled from $0.50 to over $2. On a national TV broadcast, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse celebrated his political efforts that culminated in victories on November 5.

Reporters at 60 Minutes interviewed Garlinghouse where he highlighted the digital asset industry’s influence on US policy-makers. During the 2024 election, 60 Minutes revealed, crypto companies donated one-third of all direct corporate contributions to super PACs.

Those crypto donations worked. An overwhelming 85% of the 33 lawmakers who received donations from crypto super PACs won their election to Congress.

Ripple executives were marquee donors. Garlinghouse donated $44 million to political candidates with friendly stances toward digital assets, including $25 million to Fairshake, a crypto super PAC. Fairshake said it would use the money to onboard more attorneys to offer pro bono services and promote financial and crypto literacy.

Ripple co-founder Larsen donated $5 million to Greenpeace’s virtue-signaling push for Bitcoin to switch its algorithm from proof-of-work to a new, more eco-friendly algorithm. Even though Larsen knew the network would never initiate such a change, his philanthropic support for the environment signaled support to democratic policymakers.

Read more: Ripple exec Chris Larsen donates $250K to up police surveillance in San Francisco

Ripple won’t be leaving politics

Of course, Ripple’s involvement in politics started as early as 2019 when it joined the Blockchain Association, a lobbyist for crypto-friendly regulation. That membership predates the SEC’s unregistered securities lawsuit but could indicate that Ripple’s co-founders were already anticipating attention from regulators.

Garlinghouse and Larsen also routinely associate with Washington DC insiders and regulators. For example, they recently appeared at a fintech conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

In summary, Ripple has learned that being politically active is a savvy technique for long-term success in crypto. And token holders have reaped the rewards.

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World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency project endorsed by Donald Trump, has sold approximately 1.35 billion tokens, 2% of its original goal and approximately 68% of the revised target.

In the X (formerly Twitter) Spaces call where the Trump family endorsed this token, the team promised that 63 billion of the $WLFI token would be sold to the public.

This amount was cut to 35 billion in the ‘Gold Paper,’ which was cut to 20 billion on the website, and to 2 billion in Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Thirty-five billion is still listed in the token sale terms and conditions, and 20 billion is still listed on the website. 

Even with these incredible cuts to its target, World Liberty, which was endorsed by the sexual predator and fraudster, President-elect Trump, has yet to achieve its goal.

Read more: Trump-backed World Liberty Financial stumbles at launch, website goes offline

Intriguingly, a Dune dashboard developed by ‘Seoulcalibur.eth’ suggests that over 23% of the total sales have gone to just five wallets, with the largest holding over 193,000 tokens. 

Furthermore, the token has repeatedly misrepresented itself in its marketing, claiming to be a ‘governance’ token, despite the fact that 22.5 billion tokens — more than 10 times what will be sold to the public — have been allocated to a Trump-affiliated firm, meaning the public will never truly be able to influence governance. 

This Trump-affiliated firm is also expected to receive 75% of the revenue from the protocol if it ever launches. 

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President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz to be the next attorney general of the United States. Gaetz is a former representative from Florida who was under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and House Ethics Committee for sexually trafficking minors and who took part in efforts to prevent votes from counting in 2020.

This nomination draws greater attention to the relationship between Gaetz and the crypto industry, a frequent target of the DOJ. 

Joel Greenberg

Joel Greenberg, the former Seminole County Tax Collector, was one of the individuals who was cooperating with the DOJ in its investigation of Gaetz. 

Greenberg, who is a long-time associate of Gaetz, admitted that he had paid a 17-year-old girl for sex. The New York Times reported that he told prosecutors that Gaetz also had sex with the girl. 

Greenberg has repeatedly found ways to integrate bitcoin and crypto into his criminal and unethical behavior. These activities include supposedly offering Roger Stone $250,000 in bitcoin in exchange for Stone advocating for a pardon for Greenberg. 

Additionally, Greenberg used public funds to purchase bitcoin mining machines, which he hooked up at a public building and subsequently lost in a fire.

Read more: Proud Boys ties to pro-crypto political consultant Samuel Armes

Furthermore, Greenberg regularly contracted Keith Ingersoll for work through the Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office. Ingersoll was one of the executives behind the Organic Fresh Coin scam, which was operated in cooperation with the late Mikhail Morgulis, an Honorary Consul of Belarus to the Florida Consulate. Ingersoll has been sentenced to nine years in prison for fraud.

Matt Gaetz’s crypto policies

Gaetz himself also has multiple policies that the cryptocurrency industry seems to support, receiving an A grade from Stand With Crypto. 

One of the things raising his grade is that Gaetz has proposed a bill that would require the Internal Revenue Service to accept bitcoin as payment for income taxes.

Additionally, he has supported the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) and has advocated against the Federal Reserve offering Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to consumers. 

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Dog coin-loving crypto bros caused chaos for New York City’s dog mayoral election earlier this month when they interfered in the race to pump a meme coin named after one of the leading candidates.

According to its website, New York’s NYC Dog Mayor competition was “founded to create something fun and joyful for people at a time in which many are struggling; to provide a unique opportunity for NYC community development; and to present politics and civics in a positive, educational, and compelling way (for once.).”

So-called “doggy influencer” Bertram the Pomeranian, who has nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram, was already among the frontrunners to snatch victory.

However, his bid for the title was further boosted when holders of the namesake meme coin BERT began to employ underhand tactics to drum up voters and even discredit Bertram’s opponents.

This was done, according to one rival dog owner, “to pump their valueless shitcoin.”

Olivia Caputo , the owner of one of Bertram’s biggest rivals, Enzo the Shih Tzu, posted a lengthy statement via Instagram announcing her — and her dog’s — withdrawal from the mayoral race and explaining how it had “turned into a catalyst for spreading hate, negativity, and threats of violence towards Enzo.”

Read more: Trump sells DOGE shirts after Musk appointment, Dogecoin rally

Caputo alleges in her statement that BERT coin supporters were “offering payment/giveaways to sway people to vote for Bert,” and said that “the way they are speaking in their group chats indicates it’s clearly a pump and dump scheme, which people will ultimately suffer harm from.”

Caputo told The New York Times that she first became suspicious when, in a previous voting round, the number of votes being cast for Bertram saw a jump of more than 3,000 over the previous round.

She claimed that the increase happened at the same time as Bertram started to see increased support on social media and even financial incentives in return for votes.

She also claims to have seen Telegram chats in which Bertram’s supporters stated they would use the platform to “pump the price.”

The coin, which has been trading since mid-October, did experience a spike this week, jumping from $0.0017 on Tuesday to $0.054 on Thursday. This is despite Bertram dropping out of the race at the final stage, with his owner Kathy Grayson saying, “The whole thing has been in a way, darkly hilarious.”

“It has absorbed the anxiety facing people in human elections. People are getting worked up projecting all the human stuff,” she added.

The contest’s creator Stephen Calabria said, “Frankly, I had always envisioned this as a good faith and good-humored way to get shelter dogs adopted and to use this as a platform for good.”

He added, “If I never hear the word crypto again, it will be a blessing.”

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Certain members of the crypto community would love to wave goodbye to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell when Donald Trump becomes president. The two men have sparred for years, and crypto promoters want to see Trump surrounded with loyalists who keep markets sailing smoothly.

Already assuming that Trump will find some way to oust Powell, potential candidates for his replacement are already circulating. Current top guesses include Scott Bessent, Kevin Warsh, Kevin Hassett, David Malpass, and Judy Shelton.

Powell and Trump famously clashed over interest rate policies in 2018 when Powell declared he was prepared to defend the Fed’s independence from the Executive branch in the courts. He further reminded reporters that Trump may not fire him.

Pundits speculated that Trump only backed off Powell in 2018 because his threats damaged confidence in an already shaky stock market.

Now that six years have passed since their last spat, Trump recently granted a conditional pledge to let Powell finish his term through 2026 “if I thought he was doing the right thing.”

Will Trump actually try to fire Jerome Powell?

From the crypto industry’s perspective, the earlier Powell leaves, the better. Lower interest rates, a bigger central bank balance sheet, and quantitative easing at the Fed are a recipe for booming markets.

Unfortunately, Powell is a moderate and has hiked interest rates by hundreds of basis points during Joe Biden’s term.

Incidentally, and important for context, Trump appointed Powell early in his first term as president. Granted, his 2016 appointment certainly does not mean that Trump will not try to interfere with Powell or his Fed governors during the 2025 presidency.

Indeed, Polymarket already brokers crypto-denominated bets that Trump will fire Powell within 100 days of taking office at a 7% odds rate.

How Trump would fire someone who claims the president may not fire him remains to be seen. Powell shows little interest in going anywhere without a fight. 

If Powell does depart, though, who would replace him? Below are some potentials.

Read more: Crypto promises that Donald Trump must now live up to

Scott Bessent

One of George Soros’ former chief investment officers, Bessent is already an economic adviser to Trump. He is keen to see Powell depart and has brazenly proposed a “shadow” Fed chair to effectively sideline Powell until his scheduled departure in 2026.

Bessent has been a generous Republican donor and Trump supporter. His Wall Street experience and conservative values could make him an appealing Fed chair candidate for Trump.

Kevin Warsh

Former Fed governor Warsh lost his bid for a job promotion in 2017 to Powell, but he is hoping for better chances this time. Warsh has close ties to Trump through his father-in-law Ronald Lauder, the Estée Lauder tycoon and longtime friend of Trump.

Warsh is married to Lauder’s daughter, Rachel.

Kevin Hassett

One of Trump’s former senior advisers, Hassett is a Trump loyalist with White House experience. His alignment with the incoming president and experience as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers could give him favorable odds for a Fed chairman nomination.

David Malpass

Appointed by Trump to lead the World Bank, Malpass is an obvious candidate for Fed chair. His experience in international finance and personal connections with central bankers and sovereign wealth managers around the world give him instant credibility.

Judy Shelton

Trump tried to nominate Shelton to the Fed in 2020 without success, but he might try again next year. She’s a former economic advisor to Trump, a fan of the gold standard, and a staunch critic of Jerome Powell.

Her unconventional monetary policies and proven loyalty to Trump could cater to his desires to reshape the Federal Reserve and challenge traditional economic policies.

These six candidates are, of course, only a few names among many that conservatives have floated.

Will Jerome Powell’s successor be a pro-crypto Trump loyalist?

Powell has mixed views regarding digital assets. He once referred to bitcoin as digital gold even though he thought it was too volatile to ever replace the US dollar. He also once acknowledged bitcoin’s “staying power” while testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.

Nevertheless, his incidental comments have not calmed criticisms of his hawkish monetary policies. Crypto would prefer a pro-crypto chairperson who is a Trump loyalist. Anyone who is pro-stimmy will do.

If Trump tries to fire Powell, the two men will probably clash in a legal battle that will determine the president’s level of control over the ostensibly independent Federal Reserve.

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One dream pick for a crypto-friendly treasury secretary in Donald Trump’s second administration will not be happening, as prominent hedge fund manager John Paulson said today that he won’t be taking the job.

Speaking about his decision, Paulson said, “My complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position.”

That admission is certainly true. For example, Paulson’s massive equity positions in government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose profits are swept into the US Treasury, have more than doubled in price since Trump won re-election. His conflict of interest is certainly evident.

With Paulson dropping out of the race, other contenders for the position include Key Square Group’s Scott Bessent, Cantor Fitzgerald’s pro-Tether Howard Lutnick, Jay Clayton, and Jamie Dimon.

Read more: Crypto promises that Donald Trump must now live up to

Crypto advocates had pinned hope on Paulson

Some crypto proponents had initially viewed Paulson as an incoming ally in the world’s most powerful sovereign treasury. Despite his previous skepticism towards digital assets, optimism stemmed from Paulson’s reputation as a savvy investor who has proven allegiance to Trump for years.

Just as Trump pivoted from anti- to pro-crypto during his career, so too might have Paulson. Indeed, after a half dozen NFT collections, a DeFi project, and various pro-bitcoin promises, Trump has certainly re-branded himself as a pro-crypto leader.

Read more: Tether’s dreams come true with Donald Trump victory

Many in crypto believed that Paulson’s understanding of financial markets and his willingness to embrace unconventional economic policies could translate into a favorable regulatory environment for the class. His leadership at the 100,000+ employee treasury would have been a welcome reprieve from Janet Yellen’s anti-crypto reign.

They hoped his appointment might lead to policies that would encourage innovation in digital assets and support the growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Although offshore binary options markets like Polymarket do not indicate actual odds of success, Scott Bessent is currently the frontrunner for Trump’s Secretary among prediction market gamblers.

Although Paulson will not be the country’s next Treasury Secretary, other pro-crypto contenders like Bessent and Lutnick are next in line.

As the Biden-to-Trump transition process continues, the industry will be watching closely to see how treasury leadership affects digital assets during the second Trump administration.

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Fairshake and its affiliated Super PACs, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, were very active contributors to this election cycle, spending successfully across a variety of different races.

Protos used Federal Election Commission data compiled by OpenSecrets to help determine which states were the largest recipients of funds from these crypto industry-affiliated entities.

This approximately $133 million in spending was dominated by Ohio, where over $40 million was spent by Defend American Jobs to support the campaign of Republican Bernie Moreno, who has clinched the state’s Senate race.

Read more: Crypto promises that Donald Trump must now live up to

Other expensive races saw approximately $10 million used to oppose Katie Porter in the California Democratic Senate Primary, $10 million to support Democrat Elissa Slotkin in her successful Michigan race for the Senate, and slightly more than $10 million to support Democrat Ruben Gallego in his successful Arizona Senate run. 

Andreessen Horowitz, an important Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has already committed over $23 million to Fairshake and its affiliated Super PACs for the 2026 midterm cycle, ensuring crypto will remain an election issue. 

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Despite a history of flip-flopping on the crypto industry, United States president-elect Donald Trump has suddenly become an enthusiastic advocate for the space and has actively made several eye-catching promises.

Now that he’s set to once again assume control of the executive branch, he will have oversight over a variety of different important appointments, the ability to pardon or commute certain sentences, and a demonstrated willingness to use the bully pulpit to advocate for policies that he believes in.

As we prepare for the next several years, Protos has collected several crypto promises that Trump has made and that we will be watching closely.

Read more: Tether’s dreams come true with Donald Trump victory

Gary Gensler and Ross Ulbricht could both be out

One of the things that Trump promised — to extraordinary cheers at the Bitcoin Conference — was that he would fire Gary Gensler, the current chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and a frequent target of crypto industry ire.

However, he may be frustrated in this promise by rules that limit the President’s ability to remove leaders of independent regulators.

Even ignoring the SEC, Trump will have the opportunity to make a variety of appointments that will meaningfully affect both regulation and enforcement against the cryptocurrency industry, with many hoping his Treasury Secretary will be an industry ally.

More in the scope of his traditional powers, Trump has promised that on day one he will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the Dread Pirate of Silk Road; this would presumably occur simultaneously with the day-one pardons he has promised to insurrectionists.

Bitcoin to be ‘made in the US’ and then stockpiled

Trump has additionally promised that he would create a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile” that would be based around “100 percent of all bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires in the future.”

This promise cannot be achieved literally, as much of the bitcoin held by the government will eventually be paid in restitution or returned to the victims of various inequities.

Optimistically, we must assume that Trump meant “all Bitcoin the US government currently holds and will retain the right to continue holding,” but found it too wordy. 

Trump has also repeatedly signaled his support for the mining industry, making the nonsense claim that “all” bitcoin should be “made in the US.” Achieving this stated goal would require the United States to take extraordinary steps to ensure that the price it could offer on energy to miners was substantially lower than every single country on Earth.

Even in that case, it is unlikely that all miners would be able or willing to move.

Read more: Tether’s dreams come true with Donald Trump victory

World Liberty Financial is planning to restructure US debt… somehow

Additionally, the Trump-endorsed crypto project World Liberty Financial, which has sold less than 2% of the number of tokens promised by Trump in an X Spaces, has vowed to fundamentally “restructure where the US debt is held.”

There has never been any explanation of how this functionally useless protocol will accomplish this.

Trump has also promised to kill all development on Central Bank Digital Currencies, buying into conspiracy theories that these tokens would someday exist as a surveillance tool. Instead, he has made sure to emphasize how much he likes cryptocurrencies with public ledgers.

Broadly, the crypto industry seems optimistic that this administration change will grant them a respite from what they have described as regulation by enforcement.

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Donald Trump reportedly discovered he was ahead in the US presidential election race after checking for updates on crypto betting platform Polymarket.

That’s according to Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, who described the “surreal” moment someone tipped him off that Trump HQ found out their candidate was winning based on his platform’s figures.  

Polymarket’s numbers are based entirely on betting sentiment and favored Trump for most of the election. Indeed, on election day, he was given a 62% chance of winning while Kamala Harris remained at 38%. 

Some users on X (formerly Twitter) even theorized that large Polymarket bets on Trump winning the election may have been trying to influence Polymarket odds and present Trump in a more favorable light.

As reported by Protos, traditional polling methods had Kamala Harris narrowly ahead and put the overall outcome closer to 50/50. 

Media outlets and right-wing commentators, including Elon Musk, repeatedly referenced Polymarket as an indicator Trump may have been leading at various points throughout the campaign. This ultimately appears to have been the case with Polymarket betting being closer to the end result than most polls could have predicted. 

Read more: CHART: Crypto election markets and polls show very different odds

This is despite bettors supposedly being based outside of the US. Despite Polymarket being officially unavailable to US users, it can still be accessed via a VPN, and the platform invested heavily in US-based influencers and ads to promote it.

The ‘Presidential Election Winner 2024’ market was reportedly resolved after Fox, Associated Press, and NBC confirmed the result. A whopping $3.6 billion in volume was sunk into this particular bet while one of its largest bettors has reportedly made $49 million.

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The post Trump discovered he was winning via Polymarket, says CEO appeared first on Protos.

With Donald Trump now confirmed to have won the race for the White House, his impending second term will undoubtedly see thousands of presidential appointments to government positions, including high-profile jobs in political and agency leadership.

And, on the face of it, it looks to be good news for crypto. Indeed, Trump has promised to “keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your bitcoin,” end the “persecution” against the crypto industry, prioritize low-cost energy for bitcoin miners, and make the US “the bitcoin superpower of the world.”

That first promise has already come true: By midnight, major news networks had called Republicans winning control of the US Senate. Therefore, because she is a Democrat, Warren may not continue to lead the Senate Banking Committee in a majority seat. 

As a notoriously anti-crypto legislator, Warren’s demotion to a minority seat will give Republicans an opportunity to make the Senate Banking Committee more supportive of crypto regulation.

Indeed, Republican Senator Tim Scott is currently the Senate Banking Committee’s second-most powerful ranking member. With Republicans overtaking control of the Senate, Scott is poised to take Sherrod Brown’s gavel as chairman. Scott might also earn a cabinet position.

That Senate committee change is probably the most impactful for crypto regulation. Scott has promised to advance pro-crypto legislation and lay “a wide pathway for bitcoin to be successful here at home. We need to make sure that things like taxation and regulation do not stifle innovation.”

Read more: Scammers cash in as Donald Trump fumbles World Liberty Financial launch

Trump expected to make pro-crypto appointments

An incoming US President has the right to make thousands of direct and delegated appointments to government positions. This is far more important than party control of either chamber of the bicameral legislature.

Through direct and delegated appointments, Trump will have the ability to install thousands of pro-crypto workers throughout the US government.

Howard Lutnick, co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition team, is pro-crypto and particularly pro-stablecoin. He is CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, the current asset manager for most of Tether’s Treasuries. Lutnick has vouched for USDT’s asset backing, personally assuring the public, “I manage many, many of their assets.”

During the next few weeks, Lutnick will coordinate with various members of Trump’s transition team to recommend appointments to the US Treasury including powerful bureaus like FinCEN or Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. These rule-making, advisory, and enforcement positions in various Treasury bureaus will allow Trump to impact crypto policy for the next four years.

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