Trump defies moral considerations to host buyers in his meme coin | EUROtoday

US President Donald Trump will host prime purchasers of the cryptocurrency that bears his identify at a gala dinner on Thursday.

$TRUMP was launched shortly earlier than his inauguration in January, initially rocketing in worth earlier than falling sharply shortly afterwards.

“It’s fundamentally corrupt — a way to buy access to the President,” Democrat senator Chris Murphy wrote on X, one in all a variety of folks to query the ethics of the occasion.

Some have additionally advised the anticipated attendance of many international buyers poses a menace to nationwide safety.

But the White House has batted away such allegations, saying Trump is just motivated by public service

$TRUMP is what is called a meme coin – a kind of cryptocurrency impressed by web memes or viral on-line tendencies.

Its value peaked at $75 in January earlier than plummeting to lower than $8 in April – it was buying and selling at round $12.50 on the time of writing.

Experts query the worth of such property.

“This is something that doesn’t have obvious utility. It’s not being used for payments. It’s not being used as a store of value,” stated Rob Hadick, General Partner of Dragonfly, a crypto enterprise fund.

The dinner – which is being held at Trump’s golf course close to the nation’s capital – is marketed on the web site gettrumpmemes.com as “the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the World.”

The prime 220 purchasers of the meme coin, viewable on a leaderboard, obtained invites to the “black-tie optional” occasion.

The prime investor within the $TRUMP meme coin is billionaire crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun who was charged with fraud and market manipulation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission through the Biden Administration.

In February, the Trump administration paused the case.

Sun stated this week on the social media platform X that he deliberate to attend the dinner, calling himself Trump’s “TOP fan!”

Trump’s views on cryptocurrency have undergone radical change in recent times.

In 2021, he referred to as Bitcoin a “scam.”

Now, he is not simply in control of regulating cryptocurrencies within the US – he and his household are energetic trade members.

In addition to the meme coin, the Trump household additionally holds a majority stake within the crypto change World Liberty Financial, which was launched simply previous to the election.

Trump expressed his want to be the nation’s first “Crypto President” whereas campaigning for president and was a serious beneficiary of marketing campaign contributions from the crypto trade within the 2024 election.

Many crypto property have leapt in worth underneath his presidency. On Thursday, Bitcoin hit a brand new all-time excessive of virtually $112,000 per coin.

According to a report by the group State Democracy Defenders Action, Trump’s investments in crypto have helped enhance his internet value by as a lot as $2.9 billion.

“As a stakeholder in crypto assets, President Trump will likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing,” the report states.

Three days into his time period, Trump issued an Executive Order to ascertain a regulatory framework that promotes the expansion of digital currencies.

A Trump administration official informed the BBC that the meme coin has nothing to do with the White House.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly pushed again on considerations about potential conflicts.

“The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself,” Kelly stated in an announcement.

But one former monetary regulator likened the meme coin to playing.

“It’s like selling membership cards for his personal fan club which are then traded,” stated Timothy Massad, Director of the Digital Asset Policy Project at Harvard.

“They have no value. But people speculate on the price and those purchases and that trading enriches him.”

At a Senate committee listening to this week, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) grilled Secretary of State Marco Rubio in regards to the lack of transparency concerning who will attend Thursday night time’s dinner.

Mr Murphy cited stories that most of the attendees on the invite-only occasion have been anticipated to be foreigners.

“There’s clearly a way around the State Department for foreign individuals of significant influence and wealth to be able to directly lobby the president of the United States,” Mr Murphy stated.

“I don’t have any concern that the president having dinner with someone is going to contravene the security of the United States,” responded Mr Rubio, who stated he was unaware of the dinner.

On Thursday afternoon, Mr Murphy and sure different Democratic members of Congress deliberate a protest towards the dinner to be livestreamed.

“The Members will demand Trump release the list of individuals attending the dinner and what favors they will be getting for the millions of dollars they invested in Trump’s meme coin,” the group stated in an announcement.