Coinbase Calls Chris Murphy’s Corruption Allegations ‘Ridiculous’

Coinbase has hit back at Senator Chris Murphy after he accused the crypto exchange of buying Trump’s political favor.

Murphy alleged on X that Coinbase pumped $46 million into election efforts to “help Trump allies,” sent Trump “a huge check for his inauguration,” and helped fund the renovation of a White House ballroom, claiming the SEC later dropped its lawsuit against the firm in return.

Here’s an example of how Trump’s corruption factory works.

1. Coinbase put $46M into elections to help Trump allies.
2. Sends him a huge check for his inauguration.
3. Trump drops SEC lawsuit against Coinbase.
4. Trump demands big donation from Coinbase for ballroom. Done. https://t.co/kLstTHquty

— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 30, 2025

Murphy’s Claims “Ridiculous,” Says Coinbase

Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzhad called the allegations “ridiculous,” explaining that the exchange donated to Fairshake, a non-partisan PAC that also supported several Democrats.

He added that corporate contributions to inaugural committees have long been bipartisan, citing precedents under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Shirzhad said the SEC’s decision to drop its case was “the right one,” describing the agency’s prior enforcement drive as “arbitrary and capricious” and “a grotesque pattern of bullying and abuse of power.”

“No SEC in history has had more cases thrown out on the grounds that its actions were “arbitrary and capricious, and an abuse of power,” Shirzhad said.

Coinbase And Crypto Industry Helping To Ensure US Financial System Leads

Shirzhad said that Coinbase and other crypto firms are helping ensure the US financial system remains “on the front-edge of innovation.”

“There have been almost 100 separate announcements of new innovative stablecoin projects –  including from the biggest financial institutions – since the GENIUS Act passed over your objections,” he said in his X post. 

The GENIUS Act was signed into law by Trump in July, and offers the Web3 industry some long-awaited regulatory clarity around payment stablecoins. 

With that clarity in place, traditional finance firms including JP Morgan, Western Union, and PayPal have made moves into the stablecoin space in an effort to modernize legacy payment rails through blockchain technology.

Coinbase itself has been making strides towards its mission to become an “everything crypto app.” Recent reports also suggest that the exchange was able to beat out Mastercard in a bidding war for stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK.

Shirzahd said such innovations are critical “to the dynamism of our financial system and economy” and invited Murphy to discuss how the pending crypto market structure bill “is the critical next step in helping update” the US financial system. 

Murphy Also Targeted Binance.US

Murphy’s attack on Coinbase comes just 24 hours after he criticized Binance.US for promoting Trump’s crypto tokens shortly after the president pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

“One week after Trump pardoned Binance’s owner (for a stunning array of crimes related to terrorist and sex predator financing), Binance starts promoting Trump crypto,” the Senator wrote on X. 

Binance.US responded to his post and said it conducts comprehensive due diligence and a legal review before any listing on the platform, whether it’s a stablecoin, community project, or a meme coin.

The American arm of the leading crypto exchange added that more than twenty other major platforms listed Trump’s tokensl, adding that the move was purely a business decision and “nothing more.” 

Some of the exchanges that support WLFI, one of Trump’s tokens (Source: CoinMarketCap)

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