Gemini Trust donated $10M in BTC to the MAGA Inc Super PAC weeks after the CFTC joined the exchange in asking a federal court to reverse a $5M settlement.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, transferred $10 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to a super political action committee backing President Donald Trump, federal campaign finance records show. The MAGA Inc Super PAC's July filing with the Federal Election Commission recorded two separate BTC contributions exceeding $5 million each, both made on June 19.
The timing places the donation roughly three weeks after Gemini and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a joint motion in federal court seeking to undo a $5 million settlement. That settlement, reached in January 2025, resolved CFTC allegations that Gemini had made false or misleading statements to the regulator. A CFTC spokesperson confirmed to reporters in June that even if the court grants the motion, the $5 million penalty would not be returned to Gemini.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig, a Republican confirmed by the US Senate in December 2025, has described the original enforcement action as politically motivated. He said the agency under former President Joe Biden had "politically targeted" the Winklevoss brothers.
Senator Warren Questions CFTC Independence
Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Selig in June, characterizing the reversal attempt and related agency conduct as "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." Her letter cited the joint motion as one among several factors she viewed as evidence of political interference in financial oversight.
Cointelegraph contacted both the CFTC and Gemini's counsel, Avi Perry, requesting comment on the $10 million PAC contribution. Neither provided an immediate response. MAGA Inc reported total receipts of more than $397 million as of June 30, 2026.
The BTC transfer fits a broader spending pattern for the Winklevoss brothers since Trump's return to office. Each twin donated $1 million to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. After the inauguration in January 2025, they attended the signing ceremony for the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin payments bill, and contributed $21 million in BTC to the Digital Freedom Fund PAC to support the administration's crypto policy agenda. They also backed American Bitcoin, a mining venture connected to Trump's sons.
Related Article: Gemini Launches 0% Trading in Push for Super App
One Commissioner Leads the CFTC
Selig is currently the only sitting CFTC commissioner. The agency normally operates with five commissioners across party lines, but the White House has not yet announced nominations to fill the remaining seats. Several lawmakers have pressed the administration to act, citing the pending Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would hand the CFTC broad authority to regulate digital assets markets.
The vacancy leaves Selig largely setting the agency's direction alone, at a moment when the CFTC's decisions carry direct consequences for how digital assets are regulated in the United States.
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