Trump Clan Rakes in $320M from Memecoin Frenzy—While Retail Investors Eat an 87% Crash
Another day, another crypto cash grab—this time with presidential flair. The Trump family reportedly pocketed $320 million from their memecoin venture, despite the token’s value nosediving 87% since launch. Talk about failing upwards.
Pump-and-dump 2.0: Celebrity tokens prove Wall Street’s oldest scam works just fine on blockchain. The only innovation? Faster rug pulls.
Trump’s crypto network
Trump’s foray into crypto isn’t limited to memecoins.
The U.S. president’s family is also behind World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that raised around $590 million across two pre-sale rounds earlier this year. It raised funds at a time when the market was resting around all-time highs, so that figure of raised crypto is now much less. Arkham Intelligence data suggests that World Liberty Financial holds around $103 million worth of crypto.
Trump also attempted to ride the coattails of non-fungible token (NFT) hype in 2022, releasing a series of cartoons depicting the president as a superhero or a cartoon character. Trump made around $8 million from rolling out these NFTs, according to financial disclosures.
Most recently, there was the crypto dinner event, which saw Trump host a group of 25 TRUMP holders to a private dinner and tour of his Virginia golf club. A Bloomberg report reveals that 19 of those 25 holders were either foreign entities or used an offshore exchange banned in the U.S.
He’s set to host another dinner for the top 220 holders of his token later in May. U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. called for Trump’s impeachment, asking the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether Trump violated federal ethics rules by inviting top investors.
The Trump family did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.
