US President Trump announced yesterday (21st) at a press conference that OpenAI, Japan's SoftBank Group, and Oracle have jointly established a joint venture company "Stargate", planning to invest up to $500 billion in the next 4 years to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for the United States. At the meeting, Trump also responded to a reporter's question about his official meme coin $TRUMP.
Trump Responds to $TRUMP Meme Coin: Don't Know Much, But Heard It's Very Successful
Regarding the launch of the meme coin $TRUMP, Trump said:
"I don't know if it's profitable, I don't know much about it, I just know it's mine. I've heard it's very successful, I haven't checked."
Trump's seemingly unclear statement about the token seems to have also dampened market confidence, as $TRUMP briefly plunged to $35.2, a drop of more than 25% during the press conference, but has since rebounded to $41.98 at the time of writing.
When a reporter mentioned that Trump had made tens of billions of dollars through $TRUMP, Trump casually responded: "That's small change for those people (presumably referring to Masayoshi Son and others)." Suggesting that the future value may not be just that? But it could also be because, in his current position as president, he is not very convenient to talk about it too much.
TD Cowen: Trump's Meme Coin Makes Crypto Legislation Harder to Push
The launch of Trump's meme coin $TRUMP has sparked polarized reactions in the crypto community. Some believe this move demonstrates Trump's support for cryptocurrencies, which could help promote industry development and create a more open environment. However, some experts have criticized that the launch of the meme coin may distract the market's attention from the greater value of the crypto industry.
Investment bank TD Cowen pointed out that this move could hinder the progress of bipartisan efforts to pass legislation on the structure of the cryptocurrency market. Jaret Seiberg, head of the Washington research team at the firm, said:
"Democrats may demand that the Trump team clarify whether foreign governments or companies have bought TRUMP coins to curry favor with the Trump team, making it harder to push through crypto legislation that needs bipartisan support to become law."
Seiberg added that Democrats may investigate the trading, price spikes, and whether the Trump family has profited from the TRUMP coin, while Republicans may choose to defend it, exacerbating the partisan divide.
"We don't think the Trump family or the government is likely to cooperate with a Democratic investigation."
Seiberg said the launch of the meme coin makes it more difficult for Congress to reach a consensus on regulating the crypto market, which is crucial to resolving the current legal uncertainty that restricts investors. "This is why we are concerned about Trump's decision to issue a meme coin," Seiberg said.
Not Worried About Delayed Crypto Legislation
To avoid the legislative process being affected, Seiberg suggested that the investigation into the meme coin and crypto legislation could be separated, with other Democratic leaders taking charge of the investigation to reduce interference with the bill's progress.
Overall, Seiberg believes the risk of delaying crypto legislation is not high, as the current bipartisan legislative process may already be delayed until 2026, when the pressure of the midterm elections will be reduced, and the relevant investigations can be completed before the vote.
