Foreign $TRUMP holders top list eligible for “exclusive VIP reception” with Trump
On the heels of the announcement that the top 220 holders of $TRUMP would get an invite for a dinner with President Trump, Bloomberg found that “more of 76% of the token value held among the top 220 wallets likely belongs to foreign owners because the wallets used exchanges that are not available to US residents.”
The invitation for the dinner notes that “you cannot be from a KYC watchlist country” and that “you must pass a background check after selection,” but it doesn’t state how it will conduct these checks.
As Bloomberg noted, “The prevalence of these likely foreign buyers echoes concerns that congressional Democrats have expressed about the ethics of marketing the coin with a promise of presidential access.”
Countries the Financial Action Task Force considers high-risk include North Korea, Myanmar, and Iran.
Yesterday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Fight Fight Fight LLC (the company behind $TRUMP) saying that the dinner might violate government ethics requirements and facilitate “financial transactions with foreign nationals under federal prosecution.”
Fellow Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy announced he was introducing the MEME Act on Tuesday “to ban a President or Member of Congress from issuing a meme coin. The Trump Coin is the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the White House.”
Meanwhile, not all $TRUMP holders have been winners. Out of approximately 2 million wallets, a meager 58 wallets “have made over $10 million each” from the token, totaling $1.1 billion in profits, according to CNBC. A whopping 764,000 wallets lost money.
The invitation to the dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC, is set for May 22 (which is also bitcoin Pizza Day). The top 25 holders will also get “an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception with the President” and a “Special Tour.” Bloomberg’s analysis found that all but six of the top 25 holders are foreign.
$TRUMP, with a $2.1 billion market cap, was launched on the eve of the presidential inauguration. Since then, it has enjoyed some spikes, namely around Inauguration Day and after the “exclusive dinner” announcement, but the token is down 85% since its all-time high on January 19.
The invitation for the dinner notes that “you cannot be from a KYC watchlist country” and that “you must pass a background check after selection,” but it doesn’t state how it will conduct these checks.
As Bloomberg noted, “The prevalence of these likely foreign buyers echoes concerns that congressional Democrats have expressed about the ethics of marketing the coin with a promise of presidential access.”
Countries the Financial Action Task Force considers high-risk include North Korea, Myanmar, and Iran.
Yesterday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Fight Fight Fight LLC (the company behind $TRUMP) saying that the dinner might violate government ethics requirements and facilitate “financial transactions with foreign nationals under federal prosecution.”
Fellow Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy announced he was introducing the MEME Act on Tuesday “to ban a President or Member of Congress from issuing a meme coin. The Trump Coin is the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the White House.”
Meanwhile, not all $TRUMP holders have been winners. Out of approximately 2 million wallets, a meager 58 wallets “have made over $10 million each” from the token, totaling $1.1 billion in profits, according to CNBC. A whopping 764,000 wallets lost money.
The invitation to the dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC, is set for May 22 (which is also bitcoin Pizza Day). The top 25 holders will also get “an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception with the President” and a “Special Tour.” Bloomberg’s analysis found that all but six of the top 25 holders are foreign.
$TRUMP, with a $2.1 billion market cap, was launched on the eve of the presidential inauguration. Since then, it has enjoyed some spikes, namely around Inauguration Day and after the “exclusive dinner” announcement, but the token is down 85% since its all-time high on January 19.
