Coinbase donated to President Trump's $300 million White House ballroom project as an appeal to the administration, Emilie Choi, the cryptocurrency exchange's president and COO, said at Axios' BFD event on Tuesday.

The big picture: Major companies including Google, Amazon, Palantir Technologies donated to the project, which critics have argued amounts to a pay-for-play relationship with the federal government.

Driving the news: Axios' Dan Primack asked Choi whether the donation was intended "to keep good relations with the White House," to which she replied "sure."

What they're saying: "Frankly I don't even have a problem" with the donation, Choi said. • "I think if you go to D.C., there's a lot of buildings that need to be updated, and so if private industry has to do that, it is wha

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