Bitcoin Backers, Cypherpunks Sour on Trump Following Fatal Minneapolis Shooting

The crypto industry has largely coalesced around U.S. President Donald Trump and his vision for making America the “crypto capital of the world,” but some members are publicly distancing themselves from his administration following a fatal shooting in Minneapolis last weekend.

After two Border Patrol officers fired shots that killed U.S. citizen and legal observer Alex Pretti on Saturday—amid protests over immigration roundups in the Twin Cities—a number of people pushed back against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s assertion that the ICU nurse acted as a “would-be assassin,” including Bruce Fenton.

In a video posted to X on Tuesday, the self-described cypherpunk and CEO of tokenization startup Chainstone Labs accused the White House of cracking down on individuals’ First and Second Amendment rights, describing its response as an affront to civil liberties. 

Pretti was in legal possession of the weapon that was apparently removed from his possession amid the skirmish that preceded his death, with Fenton further expressing frustration toward U.S. Secretary Scott Bessent for questioning why Pretti was armed during a recent appearance on ABC's “This Week.”

“I barely even want to associate with Republicans now,” Fenton said. “Your rights are your rights.”

Fenton, who ran for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire in 2022, became involved with Bitcoin over a decade ago, and his perspective is rooted in a period where crypto was closely linked to libertarianism. Some libertarians believe the digital asset can foster censorship resistance and financial sovereignty.

Decrypt reached out to Fenton for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned on X on Wednesday that the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are acting could have sweeping implications.

“Once the police state apparatus exists to this extent, it will keep finding new targets,” he wrote. “Even today, it has already expanded its violence from illegal immigrants to obviously-American defenders of immigrants.”

David Marcus, CEO of crypto payments platform Superstate, suggested on X on Sunday that, regardless of anti-ICE protestors’ intent, people can still “be totally appalled by citizens being shot dead on our streets.”

‘Marriage of convenience’ 

When Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht a year ago, the president recognized his importance to the libertarian movement while delivering on a key campaign promise. The former operator of the Bitcoin-fueled dark web market had been imprisoned for more than a decade.

Although libertarians praised Trump for that move, the aftermath of Saturday’s fatal shooting shows that there are limits to their support, according to pro-XRP attorney and Crypto Twitter mainstay John Deaton, who is currently running again for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

“I've seen a lot of Bitcoiners struggling,” he said. “Libertarians who are among the most hardcore Bitcoiners have a real problem when you start questioning the Second Amendment.”

Deaton also referenced First Amendment concerns stemming from the Department of Homeland Security warning that repeated comparisons between ICE officials and the Nazi Gestapo carry “consequences.”

What’s more, an internal ICE memo obtained by the Associated Press earlier this month granted ICE agents a green light to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant. That raises Fourth Amendment concerns, Deaton added.

Deaton’s previous Senate bid fell short of unseating Elizabeth Warren in 2024, but he gained national recognition as a politician willing to take on the crypto industry’s biggest critics. 

He acknowledged that the space has grown partisan in recent years, with many firms engaged in an existential fight against the SEC under former chair Gary Gensler—and rapidly finding relief under Trump’s administration. But Deaton described the industry’s support of Trump as ultimately a “marriage of convenience.”

“It really is fair to say that the government had a boot on the neck of the industry,” he said. “I think there is a scenario where the crypto community still views the Trump administration as a net positive, but it’s only compared to what the other option was at the time.”

Despite some public pushback to Trump's administration from crypto industry advocates, his approval rating on Myriad—a prediction market platform operated by Decrypt's parent company, Dastan—has ticked up in recent days to nearly 56% after being underwater for most of November and all of December.