Authors: David Yaffe-Bellany, Matthew Goldstein, Eric Lipton
Compiled by: BitpushNews
The Trump family will offer a private dinner to top investors of their meme coin TRUMP, a move that has driven a short-term surge in the coin, representing 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 members-only golf club, followed by a White House tour.
Each seat will be reserved for the top 220 investors holding TRUMP coin (a cryptocurrency launched by the Trump family on the eve of his inauguration).
On Wednesday local time, the website promoting this so-called "presidential meme coin" announced that the largest token holders would have the chance to meet the president. This essentially uses 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 read, "Let the president know how many TRUMP coins you hold!"
For months, Trump's foray into the crypto realm has sparked an unprecedented moral controversy in US presidential history. While promoting digital currencies to the public, Trump appointed regulators who reduced crypto enforcement and called for legislation to boost the industry's development in the US.
As news of the dinner spread on social media, the meme coin's price surged by over 60%, with investors frantically capitalizing on this information.
"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 a large amount of the token, meaning Trump himself could directly profit from each price increase (at least on paper). Trump and his business partners can also collect transaction fees, with earnings near $100 million in the first month of its launch.
Victoria Haniman, a law professor at Creighton University, noted that this operation raises concerns about Trump and his business empire potentially "exploiting presidential power for profit".
Trump's family crypto enterprises might benefit from crypto legislation currently being advanced by 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 Frankie Hill (Republican from Arkansas), who has long pushed for new crypto-friendly regulations, stated last month that the family's crypto ventures have made his work in Congress "more complicated".
Earlier this year, the SEC issued official guidance stating that meme coins 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 coin promoters.
As president, Trump enjoys broad exemptions from conflict of interest regulations, a loophole he has previously mentioned. White House representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Eric Trump, who assists in operating the TRUMP coin'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 and his sons Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron announced the establishment of "World Liberty Financial", issuing a digital currency called WLFI. According to the company, 550 million tokens have been sold to date.
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 his meme coin project has garnered the most attention.
Three days before his inauguration, Trump announced the token's sale on his social platform Truth Social. TRUMP's sales instantly surged, making the president-elect a crypto billionaire on paper.
Meme coins typically experience extreme volatility, and TRUMP's price quickly crashed. Holders collectively lost over $2 billion.
This dinner announcement clearly aims to reignite market enthusiasm.
When TRUMP was issued in January, a large number of 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 coin's price had been gradually recovering in the days before the invitation, and it surged rapidly after the announcement.
The TRUMP website established a leaderboard for large token holders, essentially an online game that allows buyers to track rankings in real-time. The website states that from April 23 to May 12, the top 220 average 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 it - the higher your ranking," the website emphasizes.
The website says the dinner with Trump will be held on May 22 at Trump's National Golf Club, calling it the "most exclusive once-in-a-lifetime invitation".
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the moral implications of this dinner.
