Investors who have dumped potentially millions of dollars in Donald Trump’s memecoin for a chance to dine with the president will soon discover if they are the lucky winners.
A furious bidding process involving holders of the $TRUMP digital currency ends Monday, with the top 220 buyers being invited to a “gala dinner” with the president at his members’ clubs in D.C. on May 22, The New York Times reported.
The top 25 investors in the $TRUMP coin will also be invited to an “exclusive reception” and VIP tour of the White House before the dinner.
The promotion has been met with skepticism and scrutiny that Trump is seeking to use his name for profit while in office by encouraging investors and supporters to purchase his memecoin and sharply increase its value.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed suggestions there is anything untoward about Trump’s dinner promotion or that it amounts to giving the opportunity to buy influence.
“President Trump is compliant with all conflict-of-interest rules, and only acts in the best interests of the American public—which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media,” Leavitt told the Daily Beast on Monday.
Kain Warwick, a Sydney-based founder of the crypto firm Infinex, is among the coin’s top investors and is in line to be among the 220 invited to the dinner with Trump.
If Warwick invests around half a million dollars more in $TRUMP, he believes he could break into the top 25 and be rewarded with the chance to speak to the president more closely.
“It’s definitely on my mind,” Warwick told the Times. “Obviously that would be a much better opportunity to have a conversation with Trump.”
The president launched $TRUMP on Jan. 17, three days before his return to the White House. The coin’s value quickly rose to a peak of nearly $74 but has since plummeted to under $14, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
Trump has repeatedly promoted the cryptocurrency while in office, including posting, “I LOVE $TRUMP — SO COOL!!! The Greatest of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” on Truth Social in March.
Analysis of trading records by the Times suggests a spike in purchases of the president’s memecoin one day before the dinner promotion was officially announced. This spike occurred after plans to award large token holders of $TRUMP with a private dinner leaked on social media.
However, one expert dismissed any suggestion that Trump or those connected to the memecoin will face an official probe under the Trump administration.
“This absolutely would have triggered an initial investigation,” John Reed Stark, the former head of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, told the Times. “Or at least it certainly would have under norms from prior Republican and Democratic eras.”
Sen. Chris Murphy had harsh words about Trump’s move into cryptocurrency ahead of his second term in office, telling Reuters the Trump memecoin is the “single most corrupt act ever committed by a president.”
“Donald Trump is essentially posting his Venmo for any billionaire CEO or foreign oligarch to cash in some favors by secretly sending him millions of dollars,” the Connecticut Democrat added.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, which is becoming increasingly critical of Trump, also raised concern that many of those hoping to win a dinner with the president are overseas buyers.
“Foreigners are prohibited from contributing to U.S. political campaigns, but there’s no bar on them buying stock in a politician’s business. That’s effectively what foreign buyers of Mr. Trump’s tokens are doing,” the board wrote Sunday. “Might some be trying to buy goodwill with the Trump Administration?”
Freight Technologies, a small logistics company, said it was seeking to buy $20 million of $TRUMP in order to secure a chance to speak to the president about free trade between the U.S. and Mexico, CoinDesk reported.
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