Leading US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has just strongly responded to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy after he accused the company of benefiting from “political favors” under President Donald Trump.
In a post on social media X on Thursday, Senator Murphy argued that Coinbase's political donations and corporate sponsorships directly influenced the decision of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to drop its lawsuit against Coinbase earlier this year.
Mr. Murphy also asserted that Coinbase contributed up to $46 million to election campaigns, sponsored President Trump’s inauguration, and most recently donated to the construction of a new ballroom in the White House. He called this chain of actions “part of Trump’s corruption factory,” causing a public uproar.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate are currently investigating the approximately $300 million ballroom construction project that Mr. Trump launched in early 2025. Senators asked the administration to publicly disclose the entire financial source of this project, arguing that transparency is needed because it involves private businesses.
Shortly after Senator Murphy’s post went viral, Coinbase’s Director of Policy, Faryar Shirzad, responded bluntly, calling Murphy’s claims “absurd and false.”
According to Mr. Shirzad, Fairshake, the largest political action committee in the cryptocurrency industry, is nonpartisan and has supported many Democratic congressmen, including three who are currently Murphy's colleagues in the Senate.
He also stressed that corporate donations to presidential inaugurations are a long-standing practice in the US, having occurred under the Obama, Biden and now Trump administrations, so the allegation that Coinbase seeks government favors is unfounded.
As for the donation to the White House ballroom, Shirzad said Coinbase made it through the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, along with many companies in other industries such as finance, energy and technology. According to him, this is "part of the effort to preserve national heritage and upgrade historical infrastructure, not related to politics."
Recalling the previous lawsuit between Coinbase and the SEC, Shirzad said that the former leadership at the SEC's handling of the case showed abuse of power and bias, acting as a "bullying" of the cryptocurrency industry.
He welcomed the current SEC’s decision to withdraw the case as “correct, based on legal grounds and in the public interest of the market”, which he said was a positive sign that the new government was moving towards fair regulatory reform and encouraging innovation in the digital finance sector.
“Senator Murphy probably doesn’t like our industry,” Shirzad said. “That’s a shame, because Coinbase and many other blockchain companies are working to keep the U.S. financial system at the forefront of global innovation.”
Since President Trump was re-elected, his new administration has shown a more open stance towards cryptocurrencies. Many experts believe this has helped the crypto market in the US recover strongly, especially after a series of tough regulations under Biden were removed or adjusted.
