US market structure talks back on, crypto war chests overflowing

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U.S. market structure legislation talks have resumed, crypto campaign funding ‘war chests’ have grown, and the Trump family’s crypto income makes its hotel business look like a lemonade stand.

• Senate market structure update
• Crypto PAC war chest grows
• Tether CEO claims need for Fairshake alternative
• White House nominates Mike Selig for CFTC chair
• Binance’s CZ Trump-pardon fallout
• Trump crypto income under the spotlight

On October 28, Politico reported that Senate Banking Committee staffers representing members of both parties had resumed talks over digital asset market structure legislation. The report comes nearly three weeks after a written policy proposal by Democratic committee members prompted their Republican counterparts to take their ball and go home.

That proposal, which sought to impose guardrails around decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, sparked an uproar in the crypto community and convinced GOP staffers to pause further talks. A phalanx of high-profile crypto CEOs descended on D.C. last week, meeting with senators of both parties in a bid to salvage the situation.

Their meeting with Dem senators was reportedly productive, albeit a little frosty, with Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) telling the CEOs he was “really f*cking pissed about” the industry’s collective public freakout. Gallego told the execs they were acting as “an arm of the Republican party,” which Gallego claimed “used you all and your megaphones to f*ck us.”

Following the meeting, Gallego—a confirmed crypto supporter, it should be noted—told reporters that the discord was “in the past now” and that he’d tried to stress that “we’re here to work in a bipartisan manner.”

The CEOs’ meeting with GOP senators featured John Kennedy (R-LA) stressing to the execs that “the worst thing we can do on this bill is to try and ram it through.” Kennedy warned that starting a partisan “war” could lead to a future Democratic administration seeking to “undo everything … You’re better off sitting down with both sides and fleshing out everybody’s thoughts.”

Kennedy also stressed the need to get the banking sector on board by addressing their concerns over companies like Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN)—whose CEO Brian Armstrong was among those in attendance—seeking to get around the GENIUS Act’s prohibition on stablecoin ‘yield.’ Kennedy said, “bankers are worked up. You’ve got to take ‘em serious as four heart attacks and a stroke … You’ve got to sit down with the bankers.”

But the clock is ticking. There are only so many sitting days before Congress breaks for the holidays, and the ongoing federal government shutdown isn’t helping the legislative progress. Also, the Senate Agriculture Committee has yet to put forward its own market structure legislation. And the midterm elections are already on the minds of some politicians, with the 2026 version expected to be a particularly cutthroat affair.

On October 27, Bloomberg quoted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) saying, “I’m not optimistic about us moving much further on anything around digital assets, stablecoins, or crypto in this Congress. If we don’t get it done by the first part of January, February, then I don’t think it happens in this Congress. I think we move into the political season.”

PAC war chest grows

That political season promises to be an expensive one, as the crypto sector has amassed a campaign funding ‘war chest’ that dwarfs the sum it spent in the 2024 U.S. election. Bloomberg reported that the total amount held by crypto-focused political action committees (PACs) is a whopping ~$263 million.

In the 2024 campaign, the Fairshake PAC and its affiliated entities spent a combined $133 million. The results it achieved in helping to send pro-crypto candidates to Congress—and the pro-crypto steps those elected officials have taken since the election—mean Fairshake has plenty of PAC allies this time around.

As of June 30, Fairshake had $141 million worth of dry powder, according to Federal Election Commission filings and public statements. The Digital Freedom Fund (DFF), a PAC launched this summer by Gemini (NASDAQ: GEMI) co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has $21 million on hand. Another new group, First Principles Digital (FPD), has raised about $954,000 (FPD’s donation page uses a form provided by Gemini).

These newer PACs aren’t bothering with Fairshake’s oft-repeated claims of being ‘bipartisan.’ DFF’s mandate is “to help realize President Trump’s vision of making America the crypto capital of the world.” The Winklevii believe that if the GOP loses control of either chamber of Congress, “Democrats will have the power to slow down and interfere with President Trump’s agenda.”

Similarly, FPD openly states that it’s “a Republican-led, Republican-focused organization working to elect pro-crypto leaders to Congress and turn supporters into champions.” FPD claims Democrats “worked daily to regulate crypto out of existence” while Joe Biden was president. Thus, it’s “critical to seize on this moment and ensure action and continued momentum.”

Bloomberg’s report didn’t include America First Digital (AFD), which received a $1 million donation from the Kraken exchange in September. AFD is run by former Republican staffers, and its official X account has yet to say a nice word about any Democrat.

Whither Tether’s campaign contributions?

And then there’s The Fellowship PAC, which announced its arrival on September 15 with claims of a “$100M+” bankroll but has yet to be heard from since. Claiming that it “does not coordinate with candidates or parties,” all that’s really known about Fellowship is that its treasurer is Mitchell Nobel, director of digital asset strategy and policy at Wall Street financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald (NASDAQ: ZCFITX).

Cantor claims to custody the $100+ billion in U.S. Treasury bills owned by Tether, issuer of the market-leading USDT stablecoin. The New York Times reported that Fellowship’s contributors were “expected to include” Tether, but the company’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, has neither confirmed nor denied this claim.

But consider Fellowship’s lone public statement that “unlike past political efforts,” it would support “the broader ecosystem rather than narrow or individual interests.” This dovetails with Ardoino’s recent comments that “everyone [in crypto] is upset with Fairshake” because it’s “doing the bidding of one single company.”

Ardoino declined to name this company, but he’s likely referring to Coinbase, which, along with Ripple Labs and the Andreessen Horowitz (NASDAQ: ZADIHX) venture capital group, is Fairshake’s primary contributor. Coinbase’s fortunes are closely aligned with Circle (NASDAQ: CRCL), issuer of the USDC stablecoin that is Tether’s closest rival.

Circle execs have tried to distinguish their company from Tether by pointing to the latter’s dodgy reputation in terms of regulatory compliance, both within the U.S. and abroad. And just last week, Ardoino claimed that Tether’s new U.S.-compliant stablecoin (USAT) would allow it to “start taking away market share from our competitors that were the ones that tried to kill us in the first place.”

As for Tether’s PAC plans, Ardoino said the company is “looking at the different opportunities. People saw now that there is a need of an alternative” to Fairshake. Tether would need to establish a U.S.-based entity to contribute to a PAC, something it claims to have done in preparation for USAT’s official launch in December.

A company called Tether America—reportedly a joint venture of Tether and the Anchorage Digital crypto bank/custodian—was listed among the 37 corporate donors who collectively anted up an estimated $250-$300 million to fund construction of Trump’s controversial new ballroom. The East Wing of the White House was demolished last week to clear a space for the new facility.

Tether wasn’t the only crypto firm to open its wallet for the ballroom, with additional contributions coming from Coinbase, Ripple, and Gemini’s Winklevii twins. The list also includes “the Lutnick family,” a reference to Cantor founder Howard Lutnick, currently Trump’s Commerce Secretary and a major Tether supporter (Cantor “owns a convertible bond with Tether”). Amounts contributed by each firm haven’t (yet) been reported.

No official documents detailing the corporate registration of a Tether America have yet surfaced. It’s perhaps telling that, in the letters sent by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to each of the ballroom donors seeking more information on their ballroom blitz, the address used for Tether is its HQ in El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador.

Will the latest nominee for CFTC chair get a hearing?

Commissioner Hester Peirce, the head of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, has said she plans to step down when her term ends later this year. The White House has yet to announce nominees to fill any of these currently vacant or soon-to-be vacant seats.

It’s even worse at the CFTC, where the five-person commission is currently staffed solely by acting-chair Caroline Pham. But help is finally on the way after Trump nominated Michael Selig as the regulator’s new permanent chair. Selig currently serves as both chief counsel for the SEC’s Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to SEC chair Paul Atkins.

On October 25, Selig tweeted his thanks to Trump and pledged to “work tirelessly to facilitate Well-Functioning Commodity Markets, promote Freedom, Competition and Innovation, and help the President make the United States the Crypto Capital of the World.”

Pham tweeted her congratulations to her “good friend” Selig, calling him “the right leader for this pivotal moment for innovation and market structure … I look forward to supporting Mike and a smooth transition at the CFTC.” Pham has said she will step down from the CFTC once a permanent chair is confirmed, but that will still leave four additional commissioner seats to fill.

Crypto in America cited two potential CFTC nominees in Paul Balzano, a professional staff member on the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, and Nathan Anonick, a professional staffer on the Senate Ag Committee. Both nominees are Republicans.

Trump’s original CFTC pick was Michael Quintenz, but the White House withdrew its endorsement on September 30. That withdrawal followed a push by the Winklevii, who told Trump that Quintenz was “not in line” with the president’s goals and policies. Other crypto operators came to Quintenz’s defense, and Quintenz accused the Winklevii of having ulterior motives, but the nominee was now apparently tainted in Trump’s mind.

Interestingly, the Winklevii have yet to tweet their opinions of Selig’s nomination, despite both Cameron and Tyler having rushed to congratulate Quintenz on his nomination in February. Once bitten, twice shy?

Pardon me?

President Trump is said to be urging GOP lawmakers to get market structure done post-haste, but his pardon last week of Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao is complicating matters. Senators on both sides of the aisle expressed unease at the notion of Trump pardoning CZ, who served four months in jail after pleading guilty in 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

That unease stems in part from Binance holding $2 billion in USD1, the stablecoin issued by the Trump-linked DeFi project World Liberty Financial (WLF), and reports suggesting some kind of quid pro quo between the exchange and the Trump family. That $2 billion represents two-thirds of USD1’s total market cap.

(On October 28, Binance’s U.S.-facing exchange Binance.US announced that it would start accepting USD1 deposits the following day. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) tweeted that the White House is “a full time, 24/7 corruption machine,” noting that the news came just “one week” after Trump pardoned CZ.)

Sen. Tillis said Trump’s pardon of CZ sends “a bad signal” to the crypto sector. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the ranking member of the Banking Committee, issued a statement that said “if Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it.”

On October 28, the New York Post reported that CZ was considering suing Warren for an October 23 tweet that incorrectly claimed CZ “pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge.” The Post quoted a draft letter written by CZ’s attorney Teresa Goody Guillen that states CZ “will not remain silent while a United States Senator seemingly misuses the office to repeatedly publish defamatory statements that impugn his reputation.”

The letter goes on to say CZ “immediately requests the retraction of these false statements, both within the resolution and on X… Mr. Zhao reserves his right to pursue all legal remedies available to address these false statements.” At the time this article was written, the tweet remained on Warren’s account. 

Axios previously reported that Warren plans to introduce a bill that would condemn Trump’s pardon. Warren and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to their Senate colleagues warning of the “increasingly intertwined business relationship between Zhao and the Trump family.” The letter urged Congress to “act to stop public officials, including the president and his family, from such blatant corruption and influence-peddling.”

A somewhat similar legislative effort is underway in the House of Representatives, as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)—a crypto supporter—announced Monday that he was introducing a bill that would ban elected officials from “trading crypto or stocks.” Khanna also called for a ban on “any elected official from having cryptocurrency and accepting foreign money.”

For the record, these efforts aren’t the first and likely won’t be the last attempts by Dems to put some kind of limits on the Trump family’s efforts to profit from crypto ventures. But with the GOP’s majority in both chambers having beaten back all previous efforts of this kind, don’t hold your breath.

Trump crypto coffers

And don’t stop to count how much money the Trumps have made from their numerous crypto ventures, because it just keeps rising. The latest attempt to tally this sum was made by Reuters, which claims that crypto accounted for $802 million of the total $864 million in income generated by the Trump Organization in the first half of 2025.

Of this $802 million, $463 million came from sales of WLF’s in-house token WLFI, while another $336 million came from sales of the $TRUMP memecoin the president issued just days before his inauguration in January.

By comparison, the Trump Org earned only $33 million from the president’s golf clubs and resorts, plus another $23 million from licensing the Trump brand to overseas real estate developers.

Reuters provided a detailed explanation of the methodology behind its calculations, but that didn’t stop WLF attorney Timothy Parlatore from claiming that: “The Alleged Valuation and Income Analysis of WLFI Is Inaccurate and Misleading.” (Capitalization as rendered.) Parlatore didn’t offer any alternative figures.

The H1 crypto figure doesn’t include contributions from ALT5 Sigma Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTS), the crypto ‘treasury’ firm based around buying and holding the WLFI token. In August, ALT5 announced plans to raise $1.5 billion for this scheme, which pushed its share price to nearly $9. But like most treasury firms, the gains were all too brief, and the shares closed Tuesday at $2.65, which is an improvement from their low point last week of around $1.80.

Reuters estimated that if you included all of the Trumps’ crypto holdings—ALT5, its personal WLFI and $TRUMP stacks, the money WLF earns via T-bills backing its USD1 tokens, its shares in the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) (NASDAQ: DJT) that holds 15,000 BTC tokens, and more—it “could add more than $11 billion to the family’s fortune.”

Quizzed about the Reuters report by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said he was still “trying to digest” the report. But he argued that the Trump family is “admitting they’re doing this … so, as long as you disclose your income and disclose the sources, I think that’s acceptable.”

When Tapper noted that Reuters found that much of Trump’s crypto wealth was generated via foreign ‘investors,’ Comer—who heads up the House Oversight Committee—said, “I think it’s a legitimate question … But from an ethics standpoint and from an oversight standpoint, the president is disclosing this income. And that, I think is the most important part, the transparency.”

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