Former President Donald Trump’s campaign and other affiliated groups held a cryptocurrency fundraiser in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, raising a staggering $25 million overnight, multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Breitbart News.
David Bailey, CEO of BTC and organizer of the conference, confirmed the donation amount to Breitbart News. Breitbart News heard that many of the donors were new to the Republican Party or politics in general, and that Trump’s vigorous activism in this area helped attract significant investment in his political success. One of the key people who helped organize the fundraiser was Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who served as Trump’s ambassador to Japan during the former president’s first term in the White House before the 2020 election. Hagerty had been reaching out to donors in the weeks leading up to the event, urging them to come to the event and donate to the Trump campaign, people familiar with the matter told Breitbart News.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) attends day two of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
Trump, who also spoke at the broader Bitcoin 2024 conference, held a fundraiser at Nashville’s Music City Center on Saturday afternoon. The broader conference began Thursday and continued through Saturday. Saturday’s fundraiser was attended by Sens. Hagerty, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), as well as businessman and former Trump rival Vivek Ramaswamy, according to sources. Boxer and podcaster Jake Paul and musicians Kid Rock and Billy Ray Cyrus were also in attendance. The Winklevoss twins, founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, were also in attendance.
The hugely successful fundraiser was nearly double the amount President Trump raised earlier this year at the mansion of tech entrepreneur David Sachs in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights, and continued a string of truly breathtaking fundraisers that President Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), have held in recent months.
The Nashville crypto fundraiser drew donors, many of whom had never donated to a political campaign before, and nearly 100 people paid a whopping $60,000 each to get a photo with Trump, which was also sold out.
Additionally, the Trump campaign accepted Bitcoin donations in addition to cash, according to sources familiar with the matter, and it appears that at least some people made rare donations in both digital and actual, physical Bitcoin.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
“Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville was a huge success due to President Trump’s attendance and engagement,” Hagerty told Breitbart News. “There is a natural connection between the Republican Party, which values freedom and rights, and Bitcoin advocates who embody those values. President Trump’s speech was one of the most coherent and powerful expressions of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and as a result, the entire conference was energized. President Trump’s winning message and agenda is expanding the Republican Party, bringing in new supporters, donors and voters from all walks of life, and garnering great excitement and enthusiasm that the left cannot replicate. It is no surprise that this was such a successful fundraiser for President Trump. I am honored to have worked with so many in the Bitcoin community to help President Trump succeed.”
Trump’s team has been very pleased with the reception it has received from the crypto community, a source familiar with the matter told Breitbart News.
“As the Bitcoin Conference demonstrated, President Trump wants our country to once again lead the world in technology, innovation and manufacturing,” Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told Breitbart News. “That includes crypto and other sectors. Crypto innovators and people in the tech sector have come under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats who have placed obstacles and unnecessary burdens on the path of our country’s next generation of industry leaders. President Trump is ready to remove those burdens, and the tech industry is excited about his vision and his plan to make it a reality.”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) release A website detailing how Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris (now a leading contender for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination after Biden dropped out), have waged a “war” on cryptocurrency.
