President Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that giving him millions of dollars—be that in the form of sham lawsuit settlements or “donations” to one of his many tacky projects—is a sure-fire way to get what you want.
And while most companies tend to shy away from explicitly saying, "Hell yeah, we’re down for bribes,” Coinbase is out and proud about buying the president.
During an appearance at Axios’ stupidly named BFD event, Coinbase President and COO Emilie Choi was asked if the company’s donation to Trump’s ballroom was meant “to keep good relations with the White House.” Choi didn’t hesitate or qualify her answer: “Sure.”
Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Coinbase
“Frankly I don’t even have a problem [with it],” she added. “I think if you go to D.C., there's a lot of buildings that need to be updated, and so if private industry has to do that, it is what it is.”
We typically fix public buildings using a little thing called “taxpayer money,” but that’s for suckers. Trump would never know how much you love him in that situation as just another corporate taxpayer. But if you slide him a bunch of cash directly, you can display the fealty he craves.
Even before Trump’s second term began, Coinbase already knew it hit the jackpot. You see, the Biden administration had an annoying habit of trying to regulate the crypto industry. But after Trump won the 2024 election, Coinbase’s top lawyer went on X to say that the regulation would “never be adopted; it is DOA with the next admin and DOA in the courts.”
He was right. In May, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau withdrew the regulation.
Though that was an abstract giveaway to the entire crypto industry that just happened to benefit Coinbase, the company also got some treats directly. In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission helpfully dismissed its civil enforcement action against Coinbase.
In 2023, the SEC sued Coinbase for making billions by acting as an unregistered broker, but it only cost Coinbase a paltry $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration slush fund to make it disappear. Quite the bargain!
It’s just common sense for the crypto folks to suck up to Trump. They get lax regulations, and they can even get a sweet pardon like Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
For its part, Coinbase is taking a belt-and-suspenders approach. Trump has made sure that the federal government won’t touch the company—well, at least as long as it keeps the cash flowing. But what if some pesky shareholders or state regulators get it in their head that they have the right to demand Coinbase follow the law?
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a pardon from President Donald Trump as a reward for his bribes.
Fortunately, there’s a solution for that.
Coinbase is currently incorporated in Delaware, which has long been a business hub. But Texas has recently made a play for companies to reincorporate there, promising even fewer regulations than Delaware, lower taxes, and a special business court designed to be extra, extra, extra friendly to businesses. So that’s where Coinbase is going.
But while all of this corruption is playing out right in the open, Coinbase still gets irked if anyone actually points it out. When Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said that the crypto industry’s hand in Trump’s ballroom was “an example of how Trump’s corruption factory works,” Coinbase’s chief policy officer whined that “corporations from all industries donated as well.”
That makes it okay then! Everybody knows that if a broad swath of corporations bribes the president, then it’s totally fine.
But in light of Choi’s Axios confession, Coinbase’s past fury at being called out for its pay-to-play efforts rings pretty hollow. There’s no reason to bother pretending that this is above board because no government institution is going to intervene.
Now is the time to go all in on open corruption, and Coinbase is leading the way.
