On Monday, the top 220 buyers of a Donald Trump-sponsored cryptocurrency called $TRUMP won access to an exclusive dinner with the president. The dinner was a reward for investing in the coin and marked the end of Trump’s weeks-long promotion of the contest. However, this event has raised concerns about Trump using his position to enrich his family business and opening himself up to foreign influence.
$TRUMP was created in mid-January and now has a market capitalization of over $2 billion. A company linked to the Trump family and another firm own a majority of the coins. The dinner will be held at Trump National golf club in Virginia and will also include an exclusive VIP reception with the president for the top 25 coin holders.
While the coin’s buyer leaderboard is public, it does not list the names of the winners, sparking speculation about who is vying for a place at the dinner and their possible political or financial interests. Many top $TRUMP holders bought the coin through foreign cryptocurrency exchanges that ban US users, raising concerns that the coin could hide potential payoffs and allow foreign entities to purchase influence with the president.
The White House claims that the auction, which Trump personally promoted on his Truth Social platform, will not influence the president’s policy choices and that Trump is “abiding by all conflict of interest laws” through his cryptocurrency endeavors. The price of the $TRUMP coin has fluctuated wildly since its debut on 17 January, and about 750,000 buyers lost money trading the coin.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/12/top-buyers-trump-cryptocurrency-dinner
