Gemini Trust Company, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, donated $10 million in Bitcoin to the MAGA Inc. Super PAC on June 19, according to a Federal Election Commission filing posted Monday. The contribution landed roughly three weeks after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a joint motion with Gemini asking a federal court to vacate a $5 million settlement the agency had reached with the exchange in January 2025.
The timing has drawn scrutiny from at least one US senator and raises uncomfortable questions about the intersection of crypto industry money, regulatory relief, and political spending. Gemini’s case is working its way through the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where no ruling on the reversal motion has appeared on the public docket as of Thursday. Meanwhile, MAGA Inc. Reported receiving more than $397 million through June 30, positioning it as one of the most heavily funded super PACs supporting President Donald Trump’s policy agenda.
Inside the $10 Million Transfer
The FEC filing shows Gemini Trust Company made two separate contributions of more than $5 million each on June 19. Both were denominated in Bitcoin, not US dollars, which means the PAC’s actual dollar-equivalent holdings fluctuate with BTC’s price. At mid-June levels, the combined transfer was worth approximately $10 million.
Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions from corporations and individuals but must disclose donors and cannot coordinate directly with candidates or their official campaigns. MAGA Inc. Uses these funds for independent expenditures: advertising, events, and voter outreach that supports Trump without formal campaign involvement.
This is not the Winklevosses’ first major political bet on Trump. During the 2024 election cycle, each brother donated $1 million to the Trump campaign itself, promoted the then-candidate on social media, and later contributed $21 million in Bitcoin to a separate entity called the Digital Freedom Fund PAC. That fund was explicitly framed as supporting “President Trump and his administration’s efforts” on crypto policy.
Since Trump took office in January 2025, the twins have remained visibly aligned with the administration. They attended the White House signing ceremony for the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin payments bill that passed Congress with bipartisan support. They also publicly backed American Bitcoin, a crypto mining venture launched by Trump’s sons. The $10 million MAGA Inc. Donation extends that pattern, though it arrives at a legally sensitive moment for the company.
The CFTC Settlement and the Reversal Motion
The settlement at issue dates to January 2025, when the CFTC under the Biden administration alleged that Gemini made false or misleading statements. The agency secured a $5 million penalty without Gemini admitting wrongdoing. At the time, the case was one of several enforcement actions the Biden-era CFTC brought against crypto firms.
That changed after Trump appointed Michael Selig as CFTC Chair. Selig, a Republican confirmed by the Senate in December 2025, has argued that the Biden CFTC “politically targeted” the Winklevosses through enforcement actions. In May, attorneys for the CFTC and Gemini filed a joint motion asking the Southern District of New York to vacate the settlement order entirely.
The joint motion is unusual. Regulatory agencies occasionally walk back enforcement actions when new leadership concludes a case was wrongly brought, but asking a court to reverse a finalized settlement suggests a more aggressive posture. A CFTC spokesperson told Cointelegraph in June that both parties “agreed that the $5 million penalty will not be returned to Gemini” even if the court grants the motion. In other words, Gemini would keep the money it paid but shed the regulatory finding on its record.
No timeline for a ruling has been announced. The court could grant the motion, deny it, or request additional briefing.
Warren’s Ethics Alarm and the Solo-Commissioner Problem
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a longtime crypto skeptic, sent a letter to Selig in June calling the joint motion and related developments “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.” Warren did not specifically reference the $10 million PAC donation, but the sequence of events, CFTC motion first, large political contribution second, fits the pattern she described.
Warren’s letter also highlighted a structural issue: Selig is currently the only sitting CFTC commissioner. The agency is designed to operate with five commissioners, typically three from the president’s party and two from the opposition, ensuring at least some bipartisan deliberation. As of Thursday, the White House had not announced any additional nominations.
That matters for two reasons. First, it concentrates rulemaking authority in one person’s hands during a period when Congress is debating the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, legislation that would give the CFTC significant new oversight powers over spot crypto markets. The bill’s final shape could define how digital assets are classified and regulated for years. Second, single-commissioner agencies are more vulnerable to capture, both real and perceived. A lone chair can set the enforcement agenda without dissent, approve or block rules without recorded votes, and direct staff resources without the checks a full commission provides.
Selig has defended his approach by arguing that the prior administration weaponized the agency against crypto innovators. His critics counter that reversing settlements and softening enforcement while the regulated industry funnels millions to the president’s PAC undermines the agency’s independence. Neither side has produced evidence of explicit quid pro quo, but the optics are, as one congressional aide put it privately to reporters, “not great.”
The Broader Money Picture
Gemini’s $10 million is a significant sum, but it sits within a much larger flow of crypto industry spending on US politics. A June report found that crypto companies had spent $189 million on the 2026 election cycle through the first half of the year, a pace that, if sustained, would exceed the 2024 cycle’s record. Much of that money has gone to super PACs supporting candidates who favor lighter-touch regulation, though some has flowed to Democrats in competitive primaries.
The Winklevosses have been unusually direct about their motivations. In statements accompanying the Digital Freedom Fund PAC donation, they cited the administration’s “efforts” on crypto policy, a framing that ties financial support explicitly to policy outcomes. Most corporate donors avoid such explicit linkages, preferring boilerplate language about “civic engagement” or “supporting leaders who understand innovation.”
Whether this spending is influencing regulatory outcomes or simply reflecting ideological alignment is a matter of interpretation. What is not in dispute: companies facing active or recently concluded enforcement actions are writing large checks to political committees aligned with the officials who oversee those cases. The pattern is visible not just with Gemini but across the industry.
The GENIUS Act, which the Winklevosses celebrated at the White House, establishes a federal framework for stablecoin issuers and has been praised by some industry participants as a step toward regulatory clarity. Critics argue it preempts stricter state rules and gives issuers too much latitude. Either way, its passage demonstrated that crypto money can translate into legislative results.
What Happens Next
Three threads are worth tracking.
First, the Southern District of New York’s eventual ruling on the CFTC-Gemini motion will signal how courts view agency attempts to undo finalized settlements under new leadership. A denial could embolden future enforcement targets to fight rather than settle, knowing that a friendly administration might later reverse the outcome. A grant could accelerate the trend of regulatory whiplash between administrations, where enforcement actions become impermanent.
Second, the CFTC’s commissioner vacancies remain unfilled. If Trump does not nominate additional members soon, Selig will continue operating alone through the 2026 midterms. Crypto industry lobbying has already pressed for nominees sympathetic to digital assets, but Senate confirmation timelines are unpredictable, especially in an election year.
Third, the CLARITY Act’s progress will determine how much new authority the CFTC gains. The bill has passed committee markup but awaits floor votes in both chambers. Crypto lobbyists have argued the legislation provides the legal certainty the industry needs. Consumer advocates worry it will strip the Securities and Exchange Commission of jurisdiction over assets that function like securities, handing oversight to a smaller agency with less enforcement firepower.
Gemini, for its part, has not commented publicly on the PAC donation’s timing relative to the CFTC motion. Cointelegraph reached out to the company’s counsel, Avi Perry, and did not receive an immediate response. The exchange recently added $100 million in Bitcoin to its corporate treasury, a move that sent its stock up 25% and underscored the Winklevosses’ conviction in the asset they just sent to the president’s super PAC.
The question now is whether the combination of political spending, regulatory relief, and legislative lobbying produces the policy outcomes the crypto industry wants, and whether the public cost of that bargain becomes a campaign issue itself.
