Coinbase Calls Chris Murphy’s Corruption Allegations ‘Ridiculous’

Coinbase hit back at Sen. Chris Murphy after he accused the cryptocurrency exchange of buying President Trump’s political support.

In X, Murphy claimed that Coinbase funneled $46 million to Trump’s campaign to “support Trump’s allies,” sent Trump a “huge check for the inauguration,” and helped fund renovations to the White House ballroom, and that the SEC later dropped its case against the company in return.

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

1. Coinbase spent $46 million on the election to support Trump allies.
2. Send a large check to celebrate your inauguration.
3. Trump drops SEC lawsuit against Coinbase.
4. Trump asks Coinbase for large donation for social gathering. end.

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

Coinbase says Murphy’s claims are ‘ridiculous’

Faryar Shirzhad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, called the allegations “ridiculous” and explained that the exchange had donated to FairShake, a nonpartisan PAC that also supports several Democrats.

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

Mr. Shirzad said the SEC’s decision to drop the case was “the right one,” and called the SEC’s previous enforcement actions “arbitrary and capricious” and a “grotesque pattern of bullying and abuse of power.”

“Never in history have so many cases been dismissed because the SEC’s actions were “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of power,” Shirzad said.

Coinbase and the crypto industry help secure leadership of the US financial system

Shirzad said Coinbase and other crypto companies are helping the U.S. financial system remain “at the forefront of innovation.”

“Since the GENIUS Act passed over your objections, there have been approximately 100 separate announcements of new and innovative stablecoin projects, including from the largest financial institutions,” he said in a post on X.

The GENIUS Act was signed into law by President Trump in July, providing the Web3 industry with much-needed regulatory clarity regarding payments stablecoins.

Given this clarity, traditional financial companies such as JPMorgan, Western Union, and PayPal are moving into the stablecoin space in an effort to modernize traditional payment rails through blockchain technology.

Coinbase itself is moving forward on its mission to become the “everything crypto app.” Recent reports also suggest that the exchange was able to beat Mastercard in a bidding war for stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK.

Shirzahad said such innovations are critical “to the dynamism of our financial system and economy,” and invited Murphy to discuss how the pending Cryptocurrency Market Structure bill is “an important next step in helping update” the U.S. financial system.

Murphy also targets Binance.US

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

“One week after President Trump pardoned the owner of Binance (for a shocking series of crimes related to financing terrorists and sex offenders), Binance began promoting the Trump cryptocurrency,” the senator said. I wrote With X.

Binance.US responded to his post, saying that it conducts comprehensive due diligence and legal reviews before listing any coin, whether a stablecoin, community project, or meme coin, on its platform.

The US division of the leading cryptocurrency exchange added that more than 20 other major platforms have President Trump’s tokens listed, adding that the move was purely a business decision and “nothing more.”

Some of the exchanges that support WLFI, one of President Trump’s tokens (Source: coin market cap)

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