LedgerX, ConsenSys, Tendermint among the crypto firms named in Trump admin's payroll relief program data

Quick Take

  • The Trump administration began publishing new information about the recipients of the coronavirus-linked Payroll Protection Program on Monday
  • The data revealed a number of firms in the crypto and digital asset spaces, including Ethereum development firm ConsenSys, several crypto exchanges and a range of software development firms

The Trump administration published new information about the recipients of the Payroll Protection Program on Monday. The data revealed a number of firms in the crypto and digital asset space.

The PPP program formed part of a mammoth stimulus package intended to offset and combat the economic damage resulting from the national shutdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic response. The goal of the program is to offer low-interest loans to businesses in the U.S. in an effort to prevent them from laying off employees. Depending on the circumstances, the loan principal will be partially or entirely forgiven. 

The Trump administration began publishing information on loan recipients this week following continued requests to do so. Some prominent businesses in the U.S. were among those named in Monday's release.

The data dump includes a dollar-value range for each loan said to have been received but not the exact figure. The names were included in a massive spreadsheet naming the firms and organizations said to receive more than $150,000. Data on the firms said to borrow less than that amount was more general and divided by each state. 

Included alongside the names and loan ranges were physical addresses, lender names, and the date on which they were approved for their respective loans. Many of the loans were disbursed in April as the PPP loan program was rolled out amid broad criticism about its initial rollout.

Among the notable names were Ethereum development firm ConsenSys (between $1 million and $5 million), Tendermint (as All in Bits, Inc, between $350K and $1 million), derivatives exchange LedgerX (as Ledger Holdings, between $150K and $350K), and crypto payments firm Circle (between $1 and 2 million). The Block applied for and received a PPP loan in April, as shown in the disclosures.

Divided by category, other recipients include:

Exchanges: bitFlyer (between $150K and $350K), Bittrex (between $1 million and 2 million), derivatives platform SeedCX ($350K to $1 million). 

Wallets: MyCrypto, Inc. (between $150K and $350K), MyEtherWallet (between $150K and $350K), Abra (as Plutus Financial Inc, between $350K and $1 million). 

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Data & Media: Blockfolio (between $350K and $1 million), Digital Assets Data ($350K to $1 million), CipherTrace (between $350K and $1 million), BTC Media, Bitcoin Magazine's parent company (between $350K and $1 million).

Software/Network Development: Electric Coin Company (between $350K and $1 million), Storj (between $350K and $1 million), Nebulous, Inc (between $150K and $350K), Rainberry Inc, formerly known as BitTorrent and acquired by Tron (between $2 million and $5 million), Civic (between $350K and $1 million), Skuchain (between $150K and $350K), Sovrin Foundation (between $350K and $1 million), IOHK USA (between $350K and $1 million), Token Tax (between $150K and $350K), Algorand Foundation (between $150K and $350K).

DeFi: Radar Relay ($350K to $1 million).

Security & Custody: Quantstamp (between $150K and $350K), Cambridge Blockchain (between $150K and $350K), Prime Trust (between $350K and $1 million).

Lending: Celcius Network (between $150K and $350K), SALT Blockchain (between $1 million and $2 million), Dharma Labs (between $150K and $350K).

Capital: Polychain Capital (between $350K and $1 million).

This story is developing and will be updated as more information is obtained.


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