- The Guidance
- Posts
- Warren blasts Trump dinner 💥
Warren blasts Trump dinner 💥
Democrats pounce on president's 'pay-to-play' memecoin event
It was a jaw dropping and unprecedented offer.
Now Democratic senators have said US President Donald Trump’s memecoin dinner may be “pay-to-play corruption.”
On Friday, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, joined Senator Adam Schiff of California in calling for an investigation into Trump’s extraordinary invitation to top holders of his memecoin.
“President Trump and other officials may be engaging in ‘pay-to-play’ corruption by selling presidential access to individuals or entities,” the senators wrote in a letter to Jamieson Greer, acting director of the US Office of Government Ethics.
Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Schiff said the scheme appears to violate federal ethics laws, including bribery.
Even for Trump, who has promoted everything from steaks to gold-embossed sneakers, the offer to host the top 220 holders of $TRUMP at one of his golf clubs was audacious.
“Have dinner with President Trump,” his website says. “The most exclusive invitation in the world.”
No sitting president, of course, has ever issued a vanity cryptocurrency, nor has any commander-in-chief in modern history so brazenly sold access for personal profit.
The president is doing this even as his administration is ending the many enforcement actions taken by regulators against crypto over the last four years.
Not long after Trump released his memecoin, Hester Peirce, the pro-crypto member of the US Securities Exchange Commission, said the joke tokens weren’t subject to the agency’s jurisdiction.
The Trump family’s crypto ventures, which also include Bitcoin mining, a DeFi project, and the development of crypto ETFs, have caused angst in industry circles.
In March, French Hill, a Republican senator who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters Trump family’s crypto ventures have made drafting crypto legislation “more complicated.”
Meanwhile, the industry has a lot at stake in Washington over the coming months.
Two landmark stablecoin bills are advancing in the Senate and the House, plus the SEC has formed a task force to review crypto regulatory practices. Heavy hitters such as Andreessen Horowitz are trying to influence the outcome.
Now Trump’s memecoin gala has provided crypto critics with a fat target.
Memecoins, which have virtually no utility other than laughs, tend to benefit insiders at the expense of investors.
Indeed, after peaking at $8 billion in value on January 22, $TRUMP rapidly lost more than two-thirds of its value.
It jumped 60% last week after Trump tendered his invitation to “an unforgettable gala dinner.”
ICYMI
Trump memecoin soars 60% after president pledges to invite top holders to ‘gala dinner’ at golf club
A controversial memecoin created by Donald Trump in January soared 58% Wednesday after its website said the top 220 investors will be invited to a dinner with the US President on May 22.
Georgia Senator calls Trump memecoin dinner ‘impeachable offense’
US lawmakers should impeach President Donald Trump for his decision to reward investors who bought his memecoin with a “gala dinner,” according to US Senator Jon Ossoff.
New SEC guard Paul Atkins promises ‘clear rules of the road’ to escape crypto ‘lava pit’
New SEC Chair Paul Atkins pledged to bring clarity to cryptocurrency regulation during the agency’s latest roundtable discussion on Friday, criticising past efforts and promising a “fit-for-purpose” framework for digital assets.
Story of the Week
Coinbase waved away concerns about mounting rivalries in the growing stablecoin space on Thursday after expanding its partnership with crypto-curious fintech PayPal.
The tie up, which makes PayPal the latest stablecoin issuer to ink a deal with the US-based exchange, comes with a coveted boon.
Coinbase users can convert their holdings between PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin and dollars one-to-one with zero-fees.
Until now, Circle’s USDC was the only stablecoin to benefit from such a deal. “This does not change our existing relationship with Circle – instead it pushes the entire stablecoin ecosystem forward,” a Coinbase spokesperson told DL News.
Comment of the Week
With chances rising that Cardano’s ADA is poised to be approved for an exchange-traded, ETF analyst Eric Balchunas riffed on the mounting excitement in the market. There are 72 ETF applications pending at the SEC.
‘Having your coin get ETF-ised is like being in a band and getting your songs added to all the music streaming services.’ |  |
DL News is an independent news organisation that provides original, in-depth reporting on the largely misunderstood world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance. From original stories to investigations, our journalism is accurate, honest and responsible.
Forwarded by a friend? Subscribe here.
