Crypto.com donates $35 million to Trump PAC…wins CFTC backing and secures bank charter approval in quick succession

Crypto.com, a digital asset (cryptocurrency) exchange, received a series of favorable decisions from U.S. regulators after making a large donation to a political action committee (PAC) backing President Donald Trump.

According to Decrypt on the 24th (local time), Crypto.com donated a total of $35 million over the past year to the pro-Trump super PAC “MAGA Inc.” The most recent contribution—an additional $5 million in January—was confirmed through filings disclosed by the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Within weeks, federal agencies took steps favorable to the company. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) submitted an amicus brief supporting Crypto.com in litigation related to sports prediction markets between the State of Nevada and the company. The move came months after CFTC Commissioner Mike Selig said the matter would be left to the courts.

In addition, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), under the U.S. Treasury Department, approved a conditional national trust bank charter for Crypto.com’s parent company, Foris DAX. This allows Crypto.com to build a foundation to provide qualified custody services to major financial institutions. Both the bank charter application and the political donations were made under the name Foris DAX.

The company did not immediately respond to questions about any connection between the political contributions and the regulatory decisions. The industry notes that while some digital-asset firms have funded events such as inaugurations, cases of large-scale donations to a PAC directly tied to a specific politician are relatively rare.

Coinbase, Ripple, and Tether have pursued policy engagement through their own super PACs that stress a bipartisan stance. By contrast, FEC data show that Crypto.com directed a substantial share of its political funding to an organization directly linked to the president.

After its first major donation last year, Crypto.com entered into a strategic partnership with Trump Media & Technology Group. It later launched Trump-branded crypto exchange-traded funds and prediction-market products based on Truth Social.