Trump courts top memecoin investors with private dinner as he goes deeper on crypto

Yahoo Finance
24 Apr

President Trump is courting the biggest backers of his official memecoin as he deepens his financial involvement with the crypto industry.

Trump’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency that he launched just before taking office in January surged 30% following a Wednesday announcement of a gala dinner for the memecoin’s 220 biggest holders. 

The event will be held May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. The 25 biggest Trump coin holders will also get an invite for a "special tour" along with a "private VIP reception with the President."

The private dinner invitation follows a separate announcement earlier this week from the president's namesake Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) of a partnership with crypto exchange Crypto.com to launch a series of ETFs under the Truth.Fi brand. These ETFs would hold "Made in America" crypto and stocks.

President Donald Trump and White House Crypto Czar David Sacks speak at the a White House Digital Assets Summit on March 7. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images

As president Trump continues to embrace the crypto industry by encouraging more favorable regulation of digital assets while also participating financially in their rising popularity. The combination is uncharted territory for a US president and has drawn scrutiny for signaling a series of perceived conflicts of interest.

He has signed two crypto-focused executive orders since moving to the White House.

The first, signed in January, spurred the executive branch to work with Congress to make way for better regulation for the industry. It also eliminated the possibility for the government to pursue a central bank digital currency.

The second, signed in March, authorized the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve — and a separate US stockpile of other digital assets.

The president has also brought some of the biggest names in crypto to the White House for an exclusive crypto summit. And the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped a number of lawsuits against some of the biggest names in the crypto industry.

Trump has other crypto-related ventures beyond his memecoin and Trump Media’s Truth.Fi.

People walk past an advertisement featuring Donald Trump with bitcoin in Hong Kong. (Photo by May James/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images via Getty Images

Trump and his sons are also backers of another crypto project called World Liberty Financial. Last month World Liberty announced that it would be launching a stablecoin backed by short-term US Treasuries, US dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents.

It will be issued on blockchains from Ethereum and Binance, a crypto exchange sued by the SEC during the Biden administration. After Trump took office, the SEC put that case on hold.

The push into stablecoins by World Liberty also comes as Congress discusses legislation that could give stablecoin issuers a new regulatory framework, thus opening the coins to wider mainstream acceptance.

The Wednesday announcement of a May 22 dinner for the largest holders of Trump's memecoin included some requirements for coin holders. 

They must register with the memecoin's website and "hold as much $Trump as you can" between now and May 12, according to the website. 

The gala "may be rescheduled to a different date or location" and "President Trump may not be able to attend,” the website's terms and conditions page stated.

If he can't attend it may be rescheduled or invitees will receive a "limited edition Trump NFT in lieu thereof."

David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.

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