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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.

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$389M

US Attorney David Metcalf announced Thursday the arrests of Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, alleged senior members of AudiA6, a cryptocurrency money-laundering service believed to be responsible for laundering over $389 million.

The arrests coincided with a coordinated international takedown of AudiA6 and its infrastructure, involving the search of three properties, the seizure of servers and domains connected to the organization, as well as freezing cryptocurrency assets, according to a Department of Justice press release.

Tkachuk and Ledenev were “charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of sting money laundering,” the DOJ said. If convicted, they face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years of incarceration.

Per the criminal complaint, AudiA6 offered services to conceal the origin of cryptocurrency linked to criminal activity, charging fees of up to 5% of the amount laundered.

The two defendants are in custody of Republic of Georgia authorities, and the US Attorney’s Office aims to seek their extradition to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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Solana shoves all in on poker with new partnership

If you’ve got money locked up on-chain and an itch to gamble with it in a new way, has the World Series of Poker got good news for you. The WSOP announced it will integrate solana’s blockchain technology into the tournament through crypto payments firm MoonPay.

At its big summer event, players will have the option to buy into tournaments using crypto directly for the first time. In the WSOP’s Bahamas event in December, winners will be able to receive settlements in stablecoins on solana, reducing friction with international settlements.

Solana’s ecosystem, like the WSOP, constantly challenges conventions and remains laser-focused on the consumer experience, WSOP CEO Ty Stewart said in a statement. Solana’s speed and efficiency mirror the fast-paced energy of our tournaments, and we are excited to showcase their technology to our global audience.

The price of solana dipped slightly today, but has dropped more than 48% in 2026, data from CoinMarketCap shows.

Solana has been a popular network, in part from meme coin trading over the past two years, involving viral animal sensations as well as political figures such as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump as well as Argentine President Javier Milei.

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