Calling them “pioneers,” President Donald Trump praised the top investors in his cryptocurrency meme coin at an exclusive black-tie dinner Thursday as protesters outside the event chanted and displayed signs blasting the gala as a pay-for-play event.
Two hundred and twenty cryptocurrency traders, including many from overseas, pumped tens of millions of dollars into Trump’s meme coin to gain admission to the gala through a contest that awarded invitations to the top investors — with at least some of the funds flowing directly into the Trump family’s coffers.
Among those spotted arriving for the event at Trump’s private golf club outside Washington were Lamar Odom of the NBA and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” fame, controversial cryptocurrency mogul Justin Sun, and Kendall Davis, an Austin-based cryptocurrency investor, who told ABC News that he “came here to advocate for things to be done right in the crypto space.”
The top 220 holders of Trump’s meme coin — a type of digital currency that’s often based on an internet meme — collectively spent upwards of $140 million for a seat at the table on Thursday, according to an analysis by the data analytics firm Nansen. According to CNBC’s reporting of blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis’ data, 58 crypto wallets had made millions from their Trump coin investments as of May 6 — while roughly 764,000 crypto wallets had lost money.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the gala was not a White House event and that the president was attending in a personal capacity. The White House did not release a list of the event’s attendees.
Protesters outside the event — which included Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. — chanted slogans and displayed signs reading “Stop Trump’s Crypto Corruption” and “America is not for sale” as attendees made their way into the venue.
Trump, addressing attendees at the dinner, said that he always puts the country “way ahead of the business” and added, “You can’t say that about Hunter Biden and Joe Biden,” according to social media posts.
On the topic of cryptocurrency, Trump attacked the previous administration and touted his own administration’s support of crypto.
“The Biden administration persecuted crypto innovators, and we’re bringing them back into the USA where they belong. They were fleeing. They were leaving our country,” Trump was seen saying in a social media video posted by an attendee.
Many of the dinner guests were overseas investors, and several of them told ABC News they had flown into the country just for a chance to see the president of the United States.
One attendee, who asked that he not be identified, told ABC News he flew in from Taiwan for the dinner.
“The second day Trump made the announcement about the dinner, I bought a bunch of tokens,” he said. The attendee said he didn’t have anything specific he wanted to hear from Trump, but that he wanted to attend the dinner because “I just think to have opportunity to come to an event like this is very rare.”
Another attendee, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Alex, told ABC News he is an investment banker from Moscow, Russia, who currently resides in Cancun.
He said he didn’t understand much of what Trump spoke about at the dinner because of the language barrier, but that he’s a supporter of Trump and that he was happy to see him.
Attendee Bryce Paul, in a video he posted to social media, likened Trump’s meme coin gala to crypto’s “Iwo Jima” moment — where attendees would be “raising the flags, behind the enemy lines, right here in the swamp of D.C.”
“I’m just one of 220 people that are invited,” Paul said. “There’s no media, there’s no recording, there are no plus-ones. It’s just truly some of the most influential figures in crypto, in policy, and of course, the man himself.”
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