The tablecloths are being ironed, the silver’s being polished and McDonald’s burgers are on standby ahead of Donald Trump’s crypto dinner on Friday.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you’ll know that “exclusive” tickets were available to the 220 biggest holders of $TRUMP.
All of this led to a buying frenzy for this meme coin, with avid traders spending a staggering $140 million for the chance to have a seat at the table.
The cheapest ticket ended up costing $53,500, while the wallet with the most holdings had a balance of more than $16 million at one point.
An additional event for the 25 largest investors, including a VIP tour and an exclusive reception with the president, was also on offer.
Data from Bloomberg suggests that 19 of these so-called “VIPs” may be based outside of America, fueling criticism of foreign nationals buying influence.
It’s also worth having a look at the impact that this stunt has had on $TRUMP, which is down 5% over the week but 52% compared with a month ago.
A fascinating report in the Financial Times suggests 16 of this meme coin’s biggest holders have dumped their holdings since the competition ended.
And many of these VIPs have also made heavy losses — especially the biggest, a wallet that has been linked to TRON founder Justin Sun.
The newspaper claims that he’s made a net loss of over $65.5 million, and bought 800,000 $TRUMP tokens when they were worth $61 each.
Given they’re worth about $12 at the time of writing, this transaction alone has left him about $48 million in the red. Ouch.
Beyond the contest and across everyone who dabbled in $TRUMP, data from Inca Digital paints an even starker picture.
Its figures suggest that 560,376 wallets generated $5.2 billion in realized gains, but over 590,000 more ended up losing $3.9 billion.
That’s not all. Data from Chainalysis reveals that Trump and his associates have generated $320 million in fees from whenever $TRUMP is bought or sold.
All of this is causing a fair bit of outrage in corridors of power across Washington DC, and could ultimately harm the crypto industry in the long run.
Some Democrats, who have been hugely critical of this dinner and the president’s move to launch a meme coin in the first place, have tried to block legislation.
That’s bad news for the crypto firms that have been crying out for regulatory clarity, especially considering the sheen of credibility it provides with users.
One notable casualty could have been the GENIUS Act, which has been opposed by longtime skeptic, the Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.
But this bill, which would regulate stablecoins and could position them as a serious competitor to more traditional payment methods, is on the brink of being passed.
Trump’s close ties to the crypto industry (with digital assets now representing a substantial amount of his net worth) are a particular concern here — especially considering that World Liberty Financial, a firm run by his family, has launched its own USD1 stablecoin. But another worry relates to whether this bill will pave the way for tech giants to launch their own stablecoin — opening the door of a repeat to Facebook’s doomed battle to launch Libra.
Back to the dinner though, and there’s no shortage of skeptics warning that those who have spent millions on $TRUMP will be angling for something in return. The campaign group Accountable.US has warned “American working people could easily get the short end of the stick,” with executive director Tony Carrk adding:
“Donald Trump has spent his first 100 days in office gutting oversight and profiting from the president’s office, all while inviting corruption from anywhere in the world. American families continue watching prices go up and their job and health security slip away while waiting for the President to focus on something other than his own interests.”
One prediction I do have is this: there’s a decent chance that the president will throw another dinner like this in the future, once again based on who has the most $TRUMP in their wallets. This has now been proven to be an effective way of reviving interest in this flagging meme coin, and an easy way of making big money.
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