In the aftermath of the FTX collapse, the American crypto industry found itself at a crossroads. Disillusioned with the Democratic Party, many key players shifted their focus – and funding – toward Donald Trump’s inner circle. What we’re witnessing is the dawn of a new era: one where idealism takes a backseat to strategic alignment with traditional power structures.
At Expert Stack, we’ve unraveled the complex web linking major crypto entities to top officials in the new U.S. administration – and what they stand to gain.
The PayPal Powerhouse
Few figures are as influential in the American crypto lobbying landscape as Peter Thiel, PayPal co-founder and long-time venture capitalist. Thiel’s firm, Founders Fund, made a bold bet on Bitcoin back in 2014, exiting just before the 2022 crash with an estimated $1.8 billion in profit. By late 2023, the fund was back in the crypto game, investing $200 million ahead of the long-anticipated approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
Thiel’s influence doesn’t end with investments. His close associate and fellow venture capitalist, J.D. Vance – now the U.S. Vice President – benefited from a $15 million donation by Thiel during his 2022 Senate campaign. Vance later launched his own venture firm, Narya Capital, raising $93 million with backing from Thiel and Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of a16z.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has been a key player in shaping crypto policy, funding the pro-crypto political action committee Fairshake with $140 million in support of Congressional candidates in 2024. Brian Quintenz, formerly a crypto policy director at a16z, was appointed chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – a move that raised a few eyebrows in a now-familiar revolving door environment.
These players are closely tied to Elon Musk. In 2022, a16z, Binance, and Sequoia Capital were key investors in Musk’s Twitter acquisition. By 2024, they were advising Trump on key administration hires, per The New York Times. Notable figures include:
- Marc Andreessen, a16z founder
- Jared Birchall, Musk’s family office head and Dogecoin Foundation advisor
- Sean Maguire, Sequoia Capital partner
- Trey Stevens, Anduril co-founder
- Shyam Sankar, Palantir CTO
- David Marcus, Lightspark CEO and former Meta blockchain head
Musk himself leads the newly created Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), while David Sacks, former PayPal COO, was named the administration’s “crypto czar.”
But there’s another major player worth noting.
Tether’s Treasury Ties
One of the most strategic players in the crypto-political nexus is Tether, now among the top 20 buyers of U.S. government debt. The acquisition and custody of these bonds is managed by Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The firm also reportedly owns 5% of Tether.
Digging deeper into Tether’s origins reveals billionaire Brock Pierce – co-founder of EOS, director of the Bitcoin Foundation, and an early pioneer in crypto’s grey areas, including the infamous Mt. Gox debacle. Pierce is only one degree removed from Trump via Steve Bannon, the former White House Chief Strategist. In the early 2000s, Pierce founded Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), a trailblazer in digital currency trading for online games. Bannon joined IGE as CEO in 2006.
Although Bannon later claimed that Pierce’s support for Trump in 2016 hindered their crypto collaboration, their shared past is telling.
In 2019, EOS purchased a domain from MicroStrategy for $30 million to launch the social platform Voice, with investors like Thiel, Bitmain, and Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz backing the project.
A year later, Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, made headlines by investing $250 million of the company’s capital in Bitcoin. By March 2021, institutional giants like BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, and Citadel held over 40% of MicroStrategy’s shares – suggesting broad financial sector approval.
Latecomers to the Power Game
More recently, firms like Coinbase, Grayscale, and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) – led by Barry Silbert, a key early investor in Ripple, Coinbase, and CoinDesk- have entered the lobbying arena with renewed force.
DCG’s influence crosses party lines. Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton and Obama’s National Economic Council Director, serves as an advisor to the firm – highlighting bipartisan lobbying efforts.
The fall of FTX in 2022 dramatically shifted the political balance. The Democratic Party’s perceived mishandling of crypto regulation, personified by former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, alienated many in the industry – especially after revelations about his connections to Sam Bankman-Fried’s family.
As the landscape evolves, the new market consensus favours U.S.-based crypto ventures and dollar-backed stablecoins under more centralised oversight. Even previously neutral entities are now joining the political fray: Coinbase pledged $25 million to Fairshake for the 2026 midterms, while Ripple contributed $5 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Meanwhile, Saylor has taken a provocative stance, calling for the demise of gold as an asset class to weaken U.S. adversaries and tighten America’s grip on global capital reserves.
Conclusion
What began as a decentralised, anti-establishment movement has morphed into a sophisticated lobbying machine. Today’s crypto leaders are not challenging the state – they’re becoming part of it. And on social media, the revolutionary spirit of early crypto seems to be fading, replaced by a new wave of corporatised, state-aligned ambition.