A fatal shooting in Minneapolis has put a strain on the crypto community’s growing alignment with the Trump administration, with several high-profile industry figures publicly breaking from the White House’s early narrative.
What happened
Two Border Patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti — described by officials as an ICU nurse and a legal observer — during clashes tied to protests over immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities. The officers fired after a scuffle in which Pretti reportedly had legal possession of a firearm that was later removed. The White House, via Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, called the nurse a “would-be assassin,” a characterization that has drawn sharp rebuke.
Crypto figures push back
Bruce Fenton, a longtime Bitcoin advocate, self-described cypherpunk and CEO of tokenization firm Chainstone Labs, posted a video to X accusing the White House of trampling civil liberties and attacking both First and Second Amendment rights. Fenton criticized what he called political tribalism and tweeted that the Trump administration “made a huge tactical error in jumping to attack the Second Amendment and to defend ICE without info or investigation.” He also said he was distancing himself from Republicans after U.S. Secretary Scott Bessent questioned why Pretti was armed on ABC’s This Week. Decrypt sought comment from Fenton but did not receive a response.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned on X that aggressive ICE tactics risk broadening a “police state apparatus” and could expand state violence beyond undocumented immigrants to American citizens defending them. David Marcus, CEO of crypto payments company Superstate, likewise urged that irrespective of protesters’ intent, citizens being shot on the street is deeply troubling.
Libertarian limits and political calculus
Last year’s pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht had won Trump praise within parts of the libertarian crypto community — a move many saw as paying heed to the movement’s priorities. But Saturday’s killing exposed fractures. John Deaton, a prominent pro-XRP attorney and recurring Senate candidate, said many hardcore libertarians are struggling with the administration’s apparent readiness to question gun rights. He also flagged free-speech concerns after the Department of Homeland Security warned that likening ICE to the Gestapo “carries consequences,” and pointed to an Associated Press-obtained internal ICE memo earlier this month that reportedly allows agents to enter homes without a judicial warrant — a move he says raises Fourth Amendment issues.
Deaton framed the crypto sector’s embrace of Trump as a “marriage of convenience”: the industry had been squeezed under aggressive SEC enforcement during the previous administration and saw regulatory relief under Trump, but that support is not unconditional.
Where it stands politically
Despite the public backlash from several crypto insiders, Trump’s approval on Myriad — a prediction market run by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan — has climbed to nearly 56% in recent days, after remaining underwater through much of November and December.
Bottom line
The Minneapolis shooting has exposed fault lines between civil liberties-focused crypto advocates and a White House that some see as reflexively defending immigration enforcement. For many in crypto — a community that includes libertarians, cypherpunks and pragmatic industry operators — the incident has tested how far political support will stretch when constitutional rights and policing tactics are at stake.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
