Traders Angry as Trump Targets Crypto Industry to Foot Bill For New Whitehouse Ballroom Amid Market Crash

After just announcing that his family has made $1Bn from various crypto ventures, US President Donald Trump hosted a dinner at the White House for companies that pledged funds toward the construction of a new $250M ballroom. Interestingly, attendees included senior executives from crypto firms such as Gemini, Coinbase, and Ripple.

The dinner was reportedly part of a fundraising effort to finance the 90,000-square-foot expansion, which Trump first proposed in the Summer. Among those present were Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini Exchange, along with representatives from Coinbase Global and Ripple Labs.

Trump Invites Top Donors to White House Gala: Crypto Giant @Ripple Among the Guests at $250M Ballroom Celebration #Trump #Crypto https://t.co/NEmJSvRCi3 pic.twitter.com/gAncVFFqEL

— 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸XRP (@BankXRP) October 16, 2025

Crypto Heavy Hitters Attend White House Dinner Amid Ongoing US Government Shutdown

The event took place on Wednesday (October 15), which marked the fifteenth day of the ongoing US government shutdown, with multiple federal agencies operating with limited staff. As of Thursday, no agreement has yet been reached in Congress to fund government operations, leaving negotiations between Republicans and Democrats stalled.

This, coupled with ongoing trade tensions between the US and China, and the fallout across the crypto market, didn’t deter the President from hosting a star-studded dinner to help fundraise for a new ballroom in the White House.

However, the dinner’s guest list extended beyond the cryptocurrency sector and included executives from Meta, Google, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Microsoft. Sources indicated that the event aimed to rally high-profile backers for the ballroom initiative, which Trump has described as part of his plan to “modernize the people’s house.”

The dinner capped a week of outreach by crypto executives to lawmakers and regulators in Washington. Industry leaders have been lobbying for clearer digital asset regulations following the passage of the GENIUS stablecoin bill earlier this year.

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Trump Strengthening Ties to Crypto Power Players

I just donated $1 million in bitcoin (15.47 BTC) to @realDonaldTrump and will be voting for him in November. Here’s why:

Over the past few years, the Biden Administration has openly declared war against crypto. It has weaponized multiple government agencies to bully, harass, and… pic.twitter.com/qOQSpmanBR

— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) June 20, 2024

The Winklevoss twins, who pledged $2 million in Bitcoin to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, have maintained a visible presence in Washington since Trump retook office, attending the bill’s signing ceremony in July and donating $21M to a pro-Trump political action committee ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty have also developed strong ties to the Trump administration. Both met with the president-elect in November, attended inauguration events in January, and later joined a White House crypto summit in March. Ripple advertising has since appeared across Washington metro stations as part of a campaign to position the company as a compliant bridge between crypto and traditional finance.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has been equally active on Capitol Hill. The company donated $1M to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Armstrong met with Trump privately in November to discuss the GENIUS Act and broader market structure reforms. Coinbase continues to advocate for regulated digital assets within the U.S. financial system.

The optics of the dinner, a luxury fundraising event during a federal shutdown, drew scrutiny from political analysts and Democrats. They argue that the gathering reinforced perceptions of increasing private-sector influence within Trump’s White House, particularly from industries seeking regulatory clarity, with crypto being at the forefront.

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Trump Family Boasts of Billions Made from Crypto Initiatives

Traders have been left feeling duped as the Trump family boasts of the billions made via their crypto ventures as the market crashes

(SOURCE: Arkham)

While the crypto market is in a severe dip, with Bitcoin falling below $105K today, a recent report from the Financial Times dives deep into how the President and his family have amassed over $ 1 billion via their various crypto projects in the past year.

It comes at an awkward time with so many crypto investors and traders down big on their investments and over $20Bn being wiped out in leveraged trades following Trump’s announcement last week regarding the 100% tariffs for China.

The optics weren’t made any better when Donald Trump’s son Eric reportedly responded to the Financial Times, gloating that his family’s crypto profits are significantly higher than the reported $1Bn.

A majority of the Trump family’s crypto income has come via the World Liberty Financial DeFi project and its native token, WLFI. However, both Donald and his wife, Melania, have ‘official’ memecoins in their name, with claims that the President’s crypto team has extracted liquidity from both projects, essentially rugpulling the memecoins.

TRUMP is down -92% from its all-time high, while MELANIA is down -99.2%, effectively rendering them worthless for investors who bought near the top.

Both memecoins have been lambasted by traders, with many believing they were ‘slow rugpulls’ aimed at extracting liquidity from retail investors and into the Trump family coffers. However, MELANIA is still processing around $10m in daily trading volume while TRUMP is very much alive with over $400m in daily volume.

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Traders Angry as Trump Targets Crypto Industry to Foot Bill For New Whitehouse Ballroom Amid Market Crash

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