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(L to R) Eric Trump, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. attend a remembrance ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero, in New York City on September 11, 2024. 

Adam Gray | Afp | Getty Images

A political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump has raised about $7.5 million in cryptocurrencies.

Contributors to the Trump 47 joint fundraising committee donated bitcoinether and XRP, as well as the U.S. dollar pegged stablecoins tether and USDC, to the GOP presidential nominee’s campaign, according to a Federal Election Commission filing submitted on Tuesday.

The PAC said the latest filing covered donations in the period of July 1 through Sept. 30, but numbers included cumulative contributions.

With the 2024 election just three weeks away and the contest in a virtual dead heat according to polling averages, Trump is counting on a hefty dose of funding from the crypto community. The former president positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in this election, a reversal from his previous stance during his time in the White House. In May, he became the first major presidential candidate to accept donations in digital tokens.

Nearly half of all the corporate money flowing into the election has come from the crypto industry, according to a recent report from the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen. The sum was raised from a mix of contributors, with Coinbase, Ripple, and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz accounting for most of those business donations. The industry has raised roughly 13 times the amount it brought in during the last presidential election year.

At least 18 donors gave more than $5.5 million in bitcoin to Trump 47, the filing shows. Another seven people gave around $1.5 million in ether.

Crypto donors warm up to Kamala Harris

Contributors hailed from more than 15 states, including a few battlegrounds, plus the American territory of Puerto Rico. Their professions include Lockheed Martin software engineer, Duthie Power Services sales engineer, and a producer for Esperanza Entertainment.

David Bailey, CEO of media group BTC Inc., gave more than $498,000 in bitcoin. Bailey was part of a small army of bitcoin fanatics who indoctrinated Trump in all things bitcoin and helped turned him from a skeptic to an evangelist. The process culminated in Trump headlining the biggest bitcoin conference of the year in Nashville in July.

Trump said in his keynote that his campaign had raised $25 million from the crypto industry, though he didn’t specify the split between digital tokens and dollar donations.

Among the new donors is Chase Herro, one of the co-founders of the Trump family’s new crypto project World Liberty Financial. The platform, which has been described as a decentralized bank where customers will be encouraged to borrow, lend and invest in crypto, launched its token sale on Tuesday.

So far, more than $10.2 million worth of WLFI tokens have been sold, far short of the initial fundraise goal of $300 million. The launch was plagued with technical issues, including the repeated crashing of the website where the sale was taking place.

Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security company BitGo, has contributed almost $100,000 in bitcoin.

Brian Murray, a partner at Craft Ventures, gave $6,560 in bitcoin. Craft was founded by pro-Trump venture capitalist David Sacks.

Kresus Labs founder Trevor Traina gave over $25,000 in ether, Chainstone Labs CEO Bruce Fenton donated $60,000 in bitcoin, and Gary Cardone of Cardone Digital Ventures contributed over $840,000 in bitcoin.

Ripple legal chief Stuart Alderoty contributed $300,000 in XRP, as CNBC previously reported. Alderoty attended a Trump fundraising event hosted by Sacks in San Francisco in June.

Tech for Trump: Silicon Valley investors turn against Biden

Alderoty is at odds with Ripple’s billionaire co-founder Chris Larsen, who gave $1 million worth of XRP tokens to Future Forward, a super PAC that’s supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for the White House. Future Forward began accepting donations in crypto in September.

While Larsen shares the crypto industry’s criticism of SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the aggressive approach the Biden administration has taken towards companies in the space, the Ripple chairman said he has more confidence in Harris, in part because she’s from the Bay Area.

“She knows people who have grown up in the innovation economy her whole life,” Larsen told CNBC in an interview this week. “So I think she gets it at a fundamental level, in a way that I think the Biden folks were just not paying attention to, or maybe just didn’t make the connection between empowering workers and making sure you have American champions dominating their industries.”

In addition to Larsen, Uniswap legal chief Marvin Ammori gave money to the Harris Action Fund. Like Ripple, Uniswap is battling claims it violated U.S. securities laws.

On the pro-Trump side, billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have led the charge, with an aggregate contribution of nearly $1.1 million each. Some of that money was refunded in September because it exceeded the maximum allowed.

WATCH: Kamala Harris backs crypto regulatory framework

Kamala Harris backs crypto regulatory framework in pitch to Black men: CNBC Crypto World

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Royal Enfield teases its upcoming electric motorcycle launch

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Royal Enfield teases its upcoming electric motorcycle launch

Legacy motorcycle maker Royal Enfield has released a teaser ahead of its expected electric motorcycle launch next month at the Milan Motorcycle Show (EICMA).

In the teaser video, seen below, the electric motorcycle is lowered down by a parachute as if being air-dropped. The video is accompanied by a caption teasing the unveiling on November 4th, the start of the Milan Motorcycle Show.

We got an early look at a prototype electric motorcycle from Royal Enfield at the show last year, but this year is expected to see the unveiling of a production version of the bike.

According to local media, the electric motorcycle will be the first of several developed on the same platform, allowing for multiple electric motorcycles to share the same basic structure.

The use of a structural battery pack is similar to other companies such as Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire, which also employs a structural battery pack as the basis of a platform that is used to produce several different electric motorcycle models.

The move is particularly important to the electric motorcycle industry, especially inside of India, due to the company’s major role in the motorcycle industry. Royal Enfield is one of India’s most iconic and oldest motorcycle manufacturers, with a rich history dating back over 120 years. Known for producing sturdy, classic, and retro-styled motorcycles, Royal Enfield has built a strong following both domestically and internationally.

In India, the brand is synonymous with rugged, reliable bikes, which are highly popular for both long-distance touring and everyday commuting. Royal Enfield holds a dominant position in the mid-size motorcycle segment (250-750cc) in India and has cultivated a loyal fan base due to its blend of vintage charm and modern engineering.

Despite Royal Enfield’s popularity for touring bikes, the upcoming electric motorcycle is more likely to focus on commuting roles due to the limited range offered by most affordably-priced electric motorcycles.

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Gogoro expands consumer sales of battery-swapping electric scooters in Singapore

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Gogoro expands consumer sales of battery-swapping electric scooters in Singapore

Gogoro announced today the expansion of consumer sales of three of its electric scooters in the Singapore market, marking a major expansion from the company’s commercial fleet-based entry into the market.

Known for its battery-swapping network that fuels its own electric scooters as well as those produced by other major motorbike manufacturers such as Yamaha and Aeon, Gogoro has become the de facto battery-swapping standard for two-wheeled EVs.

The company has expanded its battery-swapping network into several countries across Asia, often beginning with commercial operations. Last year, Gogoro partnered with Food Panda to outfit delivery riders with Gogoro scooters and batteries in Singapore.

Cycle & Carriage Singapore (C&C) served as the importer and distributor, and is now expanding operations to include consumer sales of three electric scooters. The models include the Gogoro VivaMix, Gogoro Premium, and Gogoro SuperSport.

“Together with Cycle & Carriage, we are introducing a new generation of two-wheel urban transportation and refueling in Singapore. Gogoro battery swapping provides a quick, easy and safe electric refueling experience that doesn’t require parking or time to charge,” said Henry Chiang, CEO of Gogoro. “Singapore has taken a proactive approach to accelerating EV adoption and the Singapore LTA’s TR25 electric vehicle charging standard has established a strong set of requirements for Southeast Asia to embrace.”

“Gogoro is Cycle & Carriage’s first foray into the two-wheeler electric mobility business here in Singapore and it highlights our commitment to support the Singapore Green Plan 2030,” said Wilfrid Foo, Managing Director of Cycle & Carriage Singapore. “While battery swapping technology is relatively new here, we believe in the products and our partnership with Gogoro will accelerate the growth.”

Gogoro’s battery-swapping standard has proven popular in its domestic market of Taiwan, where over 1.4 million batteries are in circulation. The company boasts hundreds of millions of battery swaps with hundreds of thousands occurring every day. Battery swap stations outnumber gasoline stations on the island and riders are rarely more than several hundred feet from the closest battery swap kiosk.

The company’s operations are smaller in other countries into which it has expanded, but represent an important launching pad in various regions as Gogoro hopes to replicate its local success on a global level.

Electrek’s Take

The expansion of consumer sales of Gogoro’s scooters in Singapore is particularly interesting to me for two reasons. First of all, EVs make up only around one percent of Singapore’s two-wheeler market, meaning there is a lot of room to replace combustion vehicles.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Singapore’s two-wheeler market is a much smaller portion of the total vehicle landscape than most countries that Gogoro has entered. By comparison, other markets that Gogoro has targeted, such as Taiwan, India, and Indonesia, all have more two-wheelers than cars. But compared to the several motorbike-majority countries that Gogoro has entered, scooters and motorcycles only make up around 15% of the Singapore transportation market, meaning Gogoro is working in areas with much smaller two-wheeler shares. That’s likely good news for Gogoro fans in other countries that hope to have the battery-swapping giant one day make landfall on their own shores. Of course, Singapore’s size and geography likely play a unique role in its selection as a point of expansion for Gogoro, but I still see it as a promising sign for a wider Gogoro rollout.

At the same time though, there’s also the issue of current financial troubles at Gogoro, evidenced by multiple successive quarters of net operating losses in the millions of dollars. But if Gogoro is to turn things around, success on a global level could be a major contributor. The thousands of swapping stations across Taiwan are evidence of the operational success of the system, and now the company needs to demonstrate that it can also be a financial success around the world.

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CNBC Daily Open: Bullish sentiment and broadening rally – markets are in a good place

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CNBC Daily Open: Bullish sentiment and broadening rally – markets are in a good place

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 5, 2024.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

What you need to know today

Breather from rally
U.S. markets fell Tuesday, weighed down by a
drop in semiconductor stocks and a 8.1% slide in UnitedHealth. Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower Wednesday. Asian chip stocks, like Tokyo Electron and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, retreated on news of ASML’s disappointing forecast and reports of the U.S. possibly imposing export controls on AI chips.

ASML slumps
Shares of semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML plunged 16% on a downbeat earnings report. For 2025, the Netherlands-based company thinks net sales will come in at the lower half of its previous projection. ASML missed expectations on net bookings by 3 billion euros for the September quarter, though net sales beat expectations.

Better than ChatGPT
Alibaba updated its artificial-intelligence translation tool, based on a model called Marco MT, on Wednesday. The Chinese e-commerce giant said its product performs better than those by Google and DeepL, according to an assessment by benchmarking tool FLoRes. Fifteen languages are supported by Alibaba’s AI-powered translation tool.

Banks beat expectations
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup beat earnings and revenue estimates for their third quarter. Goldman was the standout performer: Its profit jumped 45% from a year earlier. Year on year, Bank of America experienced a 12% drop in net income and Citigroup’s net income fell 8.6%.

[PRO] Repositioning for slower rate cuts
September’s strong jobs report and higher-than-expected inflation reading mean that the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to repeat its jumbo 50-basis-point rate cut at its November meeting. Here’s how strategists are repositioning in view of changing rate cut expectations.

The bottom line

Despite markets falling Tuesday, there’s still plenty to like about their current state.

Weighed down by ASML’s 16% dive and a report by Bloomberg on potential AI-chip export controls, semiconductor stocks like Nvidia and AMD fell 4.7% and 5.2% respectively. That gave the VanEck Semiconductor ETF its worst day since Sept. 3. As a result, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.01%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which just yesterday was basking in its accomplishment at closing above the 43,000 level for the first time, fell 0.75% to dip into the 42,000 territory again. UnitedHealth’s 8.1% drop dragged down the Dow.

Last, the S&P 500 retreated 0.76%.

Still, investors are the most bullish in four years, according to the October BofA Global Fund Manager Survey. They’re also optimistic about the economy: 74% investors believe the U.S. will avoid a recession.

Anticipation of more rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and hopes that Beijing will unleash more stimulus to boost its economy are driving up investor sentiment, according to Michael Hartnett, an investment strategist at BofA.

Indeed, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, who’s a member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year, noted that the central bank is “a long way from where [rates are] likely to settle.” That means “the decisions that are really in front of us are ones about how quickly to adjust towards that level” – not whether to keep rates high in light of how strong recent economic data has been.

Another positive sign for markets is how the S&P and Dow hit all-time highs on Monday, but the Nasdaq was still a few percentage points away from its peak. “This subtle divergence is technical evidence that the market has been moving away from the Magnificent Seven mega-caps,” wrote Piper Sandler’s chief market technician Craig Johnson.

– CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this story.    

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