Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the entrepreneurial duo of Facebook fame and founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, announced Thursday a $500,000 donation each in bitcoin to a super PAC supporting John Deaton, a pro-crypto lawyer looking to end Elizabeth Warren’s 12-year Senate run.
Last month, the crypto bros announced a $2 million bitcoin donation to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to help end what he called the Biden administration’s "war on crypto."
The latest donations will go to the Commonwealth Unity Fund, a new "super" political action fund created to replace crypto critic Warren with Deaton. As per super PAC rules, the funds will not benefit Deaton's campaign directly but will be used independently to support his candidacy through media campaigns.
The news comes just days after crypto firm Ripple donated $1 million to the Commonwealth Unity Fund in support of Deaton.
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"I’m extremely grateful to management at Ripple and to Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss for their support of the Commonwealth Unity Fund," the PAC’s fundraising lead, James Murphy, said in a statement given to FOX Business. "I think they are helping open people’s eyes to the reality that John Deaton can absolutely win in November."
Deaton had no comment because under federal election law a candidate must maintain a so-called "Chinese Wall" of legal separation with outside super PACs.
Both Winklevoss brothers posted the news of the donation to Deaton on their X accounts, with Tyler blasting Warren as being bad for business and crypto while praising Deaton for supporting it.
"Elizabeth Warren is one of the single greatest threats to American prosperity. When it comes to crypto, she is public enemy number one," Tyler Winklevoss said in a post to his X account, calling her the chief architect of the Biden Administration’s war on crypto.
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Cameron on his account said, "John Deaton is pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, pro-business and he will put an end to Elizabeth Warren’s war on crypto. Onward!"
A press official for Warren had no comment.
In the Thursday post endorsing Deaton, Winklevoss described Warren’s so-called "army," which includes Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and FDIC Martin Gruenberg, the chair of the FDIC, calling both men "lap dogs and attack dogs" who use the power of their agencies to push Warren’s policies.
Press officials for the SEC and FDIC had no comment.
Gensler’s crackdown on the $2 trillion crypto industry has been particularly felt by the Winklevoss twins. Last year, the SEC sued Gemini for alleged violation of securities laws through the offering of crypto tokens through its lending platform. The lawsuit is one of many against big players in the space, like Coinbase, Kraken and Ripple. Banking regulators like the FDIC have restricted banks from doing business with crypto firms due, they say, to the significant risks involved with dealing in digital assets.
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Meanwhile, Warren has introduced legislation that would attempt to reduce cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain technology they run on, from being used in terrorism or illicit finance schemes. The crypto industry sees the bill as a threat to the growth of the industry in the U.S., fearing stifling regulation would force crypto firms offshore.
Deaton doesn’t have the GOP nomination to run against Warren locked up. He has at least two challengers, a newly registered Republican, Ian Cain, a Massachusetts city councilman, and Robert Antonellis, an engineer and graduate of the University of Massachusetts, according to his campaign website.
Cain, who is also pro-crypto, recently received an endorsement from pro-bitcoin Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who said Cain "understood the digital economy."
In addition to the donation to the PAC, the Winklevoss twins also encouraged each of their 1 million followers to donate directly to John's campaign.
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According to federal records released this week, Deaton is far outpacing his challengers in terms of funds. He has $975,000 in cash on hand compared to Cain's $48,000 and Antonellis' $10,000.
