It’s fair to say that the $TRUMP token was pretty much a disaster all round. Bitcoiners hated it, even some of the president’s closest supporters were uncomfortable about it, and naive investors lost a lot of money.
After surging to a ridiculous valuation of $75.35 on the day before Trump’s inauguration, the value of this meme coin fell precipitously — and at certain points throughout this month, it was languishing below $8.
All of that changed when it was announced that the President of the United States planned to attend a dinner with 220 of the token’s biggest holders, in what was modestly described as “the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world.”
The bash is going to be held on 22 May at one of Trump’s golf clubs in Washington DC — and if that’s not all, the top 25 investors are going to be invited to “an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception.”
I don’t know what the difference between “exclusive” and “ultra-exclusive” is — but in this case, it’ll probably involve being able to see the 78-year-old’s inimitable hairstyle from a closer angle.
After the event was announced on X, $TRUMP’s value accelerated by more than 50% — peaking at $15.47 before beginning to cool off once again. It’s safe to say this meme coin will be back in single digits quickly once this dinner is over.
In a sign that Donald Trump’s business interests remain impossibly entwined with his presidency, senior administration officials told The Wall Street Journal that they weren’t even aware that this dinner was taking place. The office of White House crypto czar David Sacks also said it wasn’t involved at the event.
Let’s not forget that any pump of the $TRUMP token benefits this billionaire directly — not to mention his family. A whopping 80% of this meme coin’s supply belongs to entities with direct links to the Trump Organization.
And there are also swirling rumors surrounding the timing of this announcement. Why? Because it coincided with the planned unlock of tens of millions of $TRUMP tokens — enabling insiders to start cashing out. That had been expected to cause the meme coin to tank even further, but in a rather confusing post on X, @GetTrumpMemes wrote:
“The Tokens from the initial cliff and from the following three months of daily unlocks will remain locked, each for an additional 90 days.”
In another twist to this already surreal tale, the 220 people who will be invited to this gala dinner are yet to be decided. Why? Because they’ll be selected based on a token snapshot scheduled to take place on May 12.
Basically, this is the $TRUMP team attempting to ramp up buying pressure over the coming days and weeks — especially considering that investors are able to see whether they’re eligible through a live leaderboard offering hourly updates. As the website declares:
“Your $TRUMP coin count puts you in the running. The competition is fierce. Own $TRUMP — or watch from the sidelines.”
Investors vying for the chance to rub shoulders with Trump have been told that there will be background checks prior to the event, but this doesn’t negate the real concerns about security that politicians have shared about this project.
When $TRUMP launched just before the inauguration, critics raised fears that foreign adversaries could snap up large amounts of this meme coin — and use this warchest to influence his policy decisions.
Looking at the leaderboard right now, the top holder is known only as “CASE” — and is holding on to 385,581 $TRUMP tokens with a market value of $4.6 million at the time of writing. That’s streets ahead of “Sun” in second place on 217,253.
Because $TRUMP holders need to actively connect their wallet to this leaderboard, the minimum amount you’d need to be among the top 220 holders is just 14 TRUMP right now… worth about $168. To be in the running for that “ultra-exclusive” reception, 25,000 $TRUMP is required, with a value of $300,000.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how this leaderboard evolves in the weeks and months ahead — and whether we’ll see deep-pocketed crypto bros paying thousands, if not millions, for the chance to attend this dinner.
Given how volatile this meme coin has proven to be over the past three months, their bags may not remain valuable for long.
The post How Much $TRUMP You Need to Attend ‘Exclusive’ Dinner appeared first on Cryptonews.
