Officials in Washington, DC, are planning for thousands of people to show up at the US Capitol Building for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump — setting up the infrastructure, preparing for protests and tightening security for elected officials.

Unlike in January 2017, when many high-profile figures shunned attending Trump’s first inauguration, the president-elect in 2025 is expected to receive a full line-up of tech industry insiders, billionaires and C-suite executives from cryptocurrency firms who supported his campaign, both financially and personally.

DC residents riding the metro may have seen ads for Ripple Labs lining the inner walls of the Capitol South station that will likely still be in place on the inauguration. The blockchain firm confirmed with Cointelegraph that CEO Brad Garlinghouse and chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty will be official guests at the Jan. 20 event.

During the 2024 US election cycle, Ripple spent $45 million in contributions to Fairshake, a political action committee (PAC) that supported whom it considered “pro-crypto” candidates through media buys and opposed “anti-crypto” ones. Alderoty personally donated more than $300,000 to fundraising and political action committees supporting Trump.

Federal Election Commission records showed no Fairshake media buys to directly support Trump’s campaign, but many experts suggested the PAC could have influenced crucial races that led to Republicans winning a majority in the House of Representatives and Senate. These victories will give the incoming president trifecta control of the US government.

After the race was called for Trump, Garlinghouse and Alderoty dined with the president-elect in January. Ripple also donated $5 million worth of XRP

Altogether, the Ripple executives’ attendance at the inauguration could have come at a more than $50 million price tag for them and the company — and they’re not the only ones putting up funds.

A spokesperson for Coinbase, which poured more than $45 million into Fairshake’s coffers for the 2024 election and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, said the crypto exchange was “committed to supporting President Trump’s transition and ultimately his inauguration.”

At the time of publication, it was unclear whether CEO Brian Armstrong, who reportedly met with the president-elect in November, would attend any DC events in person. Armstrong is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 21.

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The US government makes a limited number of inauguration tickets available to the public. Some cryptocurrency executives expected to attend the event will be official guests of Trump or other members of Congress, watching from the Capitol grounds.

“I’m sure there will be many people from the Bitcoin and crypto world that will be in DC attending the inauguration,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz told Cointelegraph on Jan. 16. “This was a hotly fought election, and I think Bitcoin and cryptocurrency was very much on the ballot.”

The crypto advocacy group Texas Blockchain Council, which endorsed Cruz over Democrat Colin Allred in August, said it had secured inauguration tickets through the senator’s office.

A representative of crypto firm Ondo Finance, which donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration in December, told Cointelegraph its executive team had been invited to attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, a dinner with the president-elect, a dinner for Vice President JD Vance, and other events.

Representatives of MoonPay, the company behind a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp provider that reportedly contributed to the inauguration fund, also confirmed they will be present for official events in DC on Jan. 20.

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A spokesperson for online brokerage platform Robinhood confirmed its CEO, Vlad Tenev, and members of its leadership team would be in attendance at Trump’s inauguration. The company donated $2 million to the president-elect’s inaugural fund.

Cointelegraph reached out to stablecoin issuer Circle and cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, who each contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell announced in June 2024 that he had personally donated roughly $1 million in crypto to Trump’s campaign.

Reports have suggested Trump may sign several executive orders on his first day in office after the swearing-in ceremony. It’s unclear whether any representatives from crypto firms could be at the White House should he decide to pass an executive order on establishing a national Bitcoin reserve or other policies affecting the industry.

Two of the heads of the Big Four tech companies — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — will also reportedly attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, as will Tesla CEO and potential administration member Elon Musk. TikTok CEO Shou Chew reportedly plans to participate in the event, even as the app is expected to be banned in the US starting on Jan. 19.

Zuckerberg appeared to have been cozying up to the next US president by meeting with him at his Mar-a-Lago home and announcing Meta would end fact-checking on its platforms: Facebook, Threads and Instagram. Meta also donated $1 million to the inauguration fund.

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