[Source/Observer Network Chen Sijia] According to a report by Reuters on April 23, the official website of President Trump's personal meme coin "Trump Coin" announced on the same day that the top 220 buyers with the highest holdings would have the opportunity to dine with Trump, and the top 25 buyers would also be granted VIP access to tour the White House. This caused the value of "Trump Coin" to soar, rising nearly 60% in one day.

The official website of "Trump Coin" stated that Trump will hold a dinner at a private club in Washington, D.C., on May 22 (local time). The top 220 buyers will receive the "most exclusive invitation in the world," allowing them to dine with Trump, where they can "listen closely to Trump talk about the future of cryptocurrencies."

The top 25 buyers with the most "Trump Coins" will also receive special treatment, being invited to a reception before the dinner and qualifying for a VIP tour of the White House the next day.

This news immediately drove up the price of "Trump Coin." The Financial Times noted that since Trump officially became the U.S. president, the price of this token has been steadily declining. However, after the dinner invitation was released, the price of "Trump Coin" surged nearly 60% on the 23rd, reaching a high of $14.7, which is the highest level since early March.

The report pointed out that this message was released as traders were preparing for more "Trump Coins" to be released into the market. Currently, the cryptocurrency trading platform CoinMarketCap has listed "Trump Coin" as the 37th largest cryptocurrency, with a circulating market capitalization of approximately $2.6 billion.

As of now, more than 220 buyers have registered on the leaderboard of the "Trump Coin" website. The buyer ranked first is named "CASE," holding approximately 400,000 "Trump Coins," with a total value of about $5.2 million.

Leaderboard released by the "Trump Coin" website

However, Reuters noticed that the user agreement terms published on the "Trump Coin" website emphasized that Trump may not be able to attend the dinner on May 22, and the dinner may be canceled for any reason. The terms stipulate that in such cases, the organizers may change the date of the dinner or offer limited-edition Trump non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to buyers with attendance qualifications.

In January, before Trump officially became the U.S. president, he and his wife Melania Trump successively launched their own meme coins. These cryptocurrencies do not have actual economic or transactional value and are generally considered speculative trading tools. The Financial Times estimates that since the launch of this token, Trump has earned at least $350 million from the cryptocurrency project.

Since Trump entered the NFT digital trading card business in 2022, his family has made significant strides in the cryptocurrency sector. In September last year, Trump's family launched the cryptocurrency project "World Liberty Financial" and continued to purchase various cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Tron.

Trump's family also collaborated with the American cryptocurrency company Hut 8 to jointly establish a bitcoin "mining" company called "American Bitcoin." Bloomberg reported that Eric Trump, Trump's son, was appointed as the chief strategy officer of this company, but it remains unclear how much funding Trump's family provided to the company.

Trump speaking at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in July Visual China

These moves have sparked questions from the outside world regarding Trump's family "profiteering" and conflicts of interest. Tony Carrk, executive director of the U.S. nonprofit organization Accountable US, which monitors corruption activities, criticized it as "a race to the bottom line of presidential corruption."

Carrk said: "There has never been such a clear case where a president uses their authority to line their own pockets, or where a larger potential interest group attempts to engage in money-for-power transactions with the U.S. government, which could threaten public interests."

In response, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly defended: "President Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children, so there is no conflict of interest."

Trump has declared that he wants the United States to become the "capital of cryptocurrencies," and after taking office, he signed an executive order requiring the strengthening of America's leadership in digital financial technology and forming a digital asset market working group within the White House National Economic Council. Last month, Trump signed another order requiring the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve to promote the United States as a "digital asset strategic leader."

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7496746910800183858/

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