President-elect Donald J. Trump and his family on Friday began selling a cryptocurrency token depicting an image of Mr. Trump taken from the July assassination attempt, a potentially lucrative new business that ethics experts called blatant effort to take advantage of the office. he’s about to occupy again.
Revealed just days before his second inauguration, the move is the latest in a series of moves by Mr. Trump that blur the line between his government role and his family’s ongoing efforts to profit from his power and global fame. . It’s another sign that the Trump family will be much less hesitant during this second term to bend or break traditional ethical boundaries.
Mr. Trump himself announced the launch of his new business Friday evening on his social media platform, between two announcements concerning the filling of key positions within the federal government. He calls the token $Trump and sells it with the slogan “Join the Trump Community.” This is history in the making!
The venture was organized by CIC Digital LLC, a subsidiary of the Trump Organization, which has already sold a range of other types of merchandise like Trump-branded sneakers, perfume, and even digital trading cards.
But this new venture brings Mr. Trump and his family directly into the world of cryptocurrency sales, which is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Trump recently revealed that he intends to appoint a cryptocurrency advocate as President of the SEC.
A disclosure on the website selling the tokens says that CIC Digital and its affiliates own 80% of the supply of the new Trump tokens which will be released gradually over the next three years and that they will receive “trading revenue” as they come. and as tokens are sold. sold.
The decision by Mr. Trump and his family was immediately condemned by ethics lawyers, who said they could not recall a more explicit attempt at profit from a new president.
“It’s literally about cashing in on the presidency by creating a financial instrument for people to transfer money to the president’s family in office,” said Adav Noti, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center , a nonprofit ethics group. “This is unprecedented.”
Eric Trump, who helps manage the Trump Organization’s business operations, said Saturday that the offering is part of a new and growing business sector that the Trump family has entered.
“I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto,” Eric Trump said in a statement to the New York Times. “$Trump is currently the hottest digital meme in the world.” He added: “This is just the beginning. »
But even some in the cryptocurrency industry were quick to criticize the new token.
“Trump owning 80% and scheduling its launch hours before the inauguration is predatory and many will likely suffer,” wrote Nick Tomaino, a Crypto venture capitalist and former executive at Coinbase, one of the largest crypto trading platforms, in a social networks publication Saturday.
The president-elect and his three sons had already, late last year, lent their name to another cryptocurrency startup called Liberty Global Financialan arrangement that included a token cut of sales for the Trump family in exchange for help promoting the new brand.
But members of the Trump family, along with World Liberty Financial, were not actually platform owners or company directors.
There are other crypto coins on the market based on Mr. Trump that are not directly affiliated with his family, such as the new Trump Meme. Typically, these so-called meme coins — which originated when coins were created as a joke inspired by an Internet meme or caricatured animal faces — are largely worthless and traded more as a hobby .
With this new venture, companies associated with Mr. Trump’s family have a direct financial interest in the value of the new tokens and the volume of their sales, which increased rapidly after their introduction to the market.
“GetTrumpMemes.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign or political office or government agency,” the company’s website states, adding: “Trump Memes is intended to function as a expression of support for, and commitment to, the ideals and beliefs embodied in the “$TRUMP” symbol.
The legal disclosure states that the tokens are not intended to be considered “an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.” But their trading on cryptocurrency markets began immediately, driving the value of each token from $7 to nearly $30 by midday Saturday.
This suggests that the so-called fully diluted value of all tokens on Saturday noon was 30 billion dollarsa figure reached less than a day after the token hit the market, according to CoinMarketCap, a site that tracks cryptocurrency trading.
A log of transactions related to the new token suggests that 80% of $Trump tokens remain controlled by Trump-related entities, implying that Trump assets have still not been sold. It also shows that an unidentified crypto wallet has accumulated more than 2% of the meme coin. Many attempts to purchase or transfer the new token failed early Saturday evening, possibly due to an insufficient supply of available tokens given the sudden demand.
Mr. Trump and his family made it clear in marketing for the new token that the image chosen for the coin was inspired by the July assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“President Trump faced death and fought! says the website promoting the tokens.
Cryptocurrency markets tend to be very volatile, in part because the tokens are not backed by any tangible asset. The website for Mr. Trump’s new business includes an extensive collection of disclaimers limiting the ability of anyone purchasing the token to file a class action lawsuit over it and warning buyers that “Trump Memes can be extremely volatile and price fluctuations in cryptocurrencies could impact the price.”
Mr. Trump has already made it clear that he will work to promote the cryptocurrency industry.
He announced plans to appoint regulators who would lift restrictions on the sale of new tokens and ties between cryptocurrency companies and other more traditional financial businesses.
This contrasts with efforts by Biden-era regulators to tightly regulate the industry, out of concern that a sudden collapse in cryptocurrency value could potentially lead to a future financial crash.