Authors: David Yaffe-Bellany, Matthew Goldstein, Eric Lipton
Translated and Compiled by: Bitpush BitpushNews
The Trump family will offer a private dinner to top investors of their meme token TRUMP, and this invitation has driven TRUMP to surge short-term, becoming their latest attempt to profit from the crypto industry.
This dazzling online announcement calls it the "most exclusive global invitation" - a rare opportunity to have a "private dinner" with Trump at his Virginia member golf club, followed by a White House tour.
Each seat will be reserved for the top 220 investors by TRUMP token holdings (a cryptocurrency launched by the Trump family before taking office).
On Wednesday local time, the website promoting this so-called "presidential meme token" announced that the largest token holders would have the chance to meet the President. This is essentially using White House access as a bargaining chip to encourage investment in Trump's crypto project.
"Dinner with President Trump and the TRUMP community!" the invitation reads, "Let the President know how many TRUMP community dinner tokens you hold! Let the President know how many TRUMP tokens you have!"
For months, Trump's foray into the crypto field has sparked an unprecedented ethical controversy in US presidential history. While selling digital currencies to the public, Trump appointed regulators who reduced crypto enforcement efforts and called for legislation to boost the industry's development in the US.
As the dinner news spread on social media, the meme token's price surged over 60%, with investors frantically profiting from this news.
"This is simply incredible," said Corey Freyel, who was responsible for SEC crypto policy during the Biden administration, "They're putting 'quid pro quo' right on the table."
Business entities associated with Trump hold large amounts of the token, meaning Trump could directly profit from each price increase (at least on paper). Trump and his business partners can also extract transaction fees from the token, with earnings near $100 million in January alone during its initial launch.
Victoria Haniman, a law professor at Creighton University, noted that this operation raises concerns that Trump and his business empire might "potentially use presidential power for personal gain".
The Trump family's crypto enterprises might benefit from crypto legislation currently advancing in Congress with industry support, but they also complicate the political landscape around the issue. Trump's relationship with cryptocurrencies has angered pro-industry Democrats, as legislation requires their support to pass the Senate. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Franchy Hill (Republican from Arkansas), who has long pushed for new crypto-friendly regulations, stated last month that the family's crypto enterprises have made his work in Congress "more complicated".
Earlier this year, the SEC issued official guidance stating that meme tokens based on internet jokes or celebrity images would not be regulated by the agency. Crypto skeptics criticize this policy as potentially encouraging fraud by meme token promoters.
As president, Trump enjoys broad exemptions from conflict of interest regulations, a loophole he has personally mentioned before. White House representatives did not immediately respond to comment requests. Eric Trump, who assists in operating the TRUMP token's sponsor "Trump Group", declined to comment.
Trump, who was previously skeptical of crypto, changed his stance during last year's campaign - when crypto companies were spending tens of millions to influence the 2024 election.
Last fall, Trump announced with his sons Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron the establishment of "World Liberty Financial", issuing a digital currency called WLFI. According to the company, 550 million tokens have been sold.
Shortly after, Trump's social media company Trump Media & Technology Group began offering crypto financial products to retail investors and announced a partnership with trading platform Crypto.com.
But the most attention has been on Trump's meme token project.
Three days before the inauguration, Trump announced the token's sale on his social platform Truth Social. TRUMP sales instantly surged, making the president-to-be a crypto billionaire on paper.
Meme tokens typically experience extreme volatility, and TRUMP's price quickly crashed. Token holders collectively lost over $2 billion.
This dinner announcement is clearly intended to reignite market enthusiasm.
When TRUMP was issued in January, many tokens were allocated to project supporters. However, issuance rules restricted these insiders from selling until last week, raising market concerns about potential further price drops due to their selling.
However, the token's price had been gradually recovering before the invitation, and it surged rapidly after the announcement.
The TRUMP website established a token holder ranking, essentially an online game allowing buyers to track rankings in real-time. The website states that from April 23 to May 12, the "top 220 average TRUMP token holders" will be invited to the dinner. The top 25 buyers can even attend a presidential reception and White House VIP tour before the dinner (currently, the 25th place holder has about 4,000 tokens, worth approximately $54,000).
"The more $TRUMP you hold - and the longer you hold - the higher your ranking," the website emphasizes.
The website says the dinner with Trump will be held on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club, calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime most exclusive invitation".
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ethical implications of this dinner.
