Trump’s two crypto dinners in May raise potential for conflicts of interest

President Donald Trump is pushing back against criticism over his and his family’s ties to cryptocurrency.In a post on Monday on Truth Social, the Trump family-owned platform, the president said he plans to move forward with a gala dinner in Washington later this month for major backers of the Official TRUMP memecoin.The announcement comes after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized what she called the Trump family’s “shady” crypto dealings, including a reported investment from the United Arab Emirates in the Trump-linked USD1 stablecoin.In late April, Warren and several other lawmakers, including Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on federal officials to address concerns surrounding Trump’s memecoin, citing potential risks of bribery and corruption.“President Trump’s announcement promises exclusive access to the presidency in exchange for significant investment in one of the President’s business ventures,” Schiff and Warren wrote in the co-signed letter regarding the dinner and White House tour expected to take place on May 22.Since then, Trump has doubled down on his support for the crypto industry and his efforts to engage with its leaders. On Monday, he announced he would host a previously unannounced “Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner” later this month in Washington. The event, organized by MAGA Inc., will feature tech investor David Sacks — referred to as the “Crypto Tzar”—as a special guest.'Doesn't mean anything'Monday's event is to raise funds for the MAGA Inc. super PAC. According to CNBC, the going rate per plate starts at $1.5 million, making it “among the priciest political fundraisers in recent memory.” Meanwhile, the $TRUMP memecoin gala has appeared to attract significant trading activity for the token, which surged more than 50% immediately after the gala was first announced.On Sunday, President Donald Trump had a contentious exchange with NBC News reporter Kristen Welker, who questioned the potential conflict of interest in offering access to the president for top holders of the TRUMP token. Justin Sun, a major investor in the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial DeFi project, appears to be among the largest holders of the token.Trump downplayed Welker’s concerns and instead appeared to be more interested in discussing the token’s valuation. “What’s it worth? You might as well tell me, because I have no idea,” Trump said, adding later that the token’s price “doesn’t mean anything.”“I’m not profiting from anything. All I’m doing is, I started this long before the election. I want crypto. I think crypto’s important because if we don’t do it, China’s going to. And it’s new, it’s very popular, it’s very hot,” Trump said. According to Trump, the Official TRUMP token, which debuted just days before Inauguration Day, should not be a matter of public concern, in part because he claims to have little awareness of any profits. He also argued that other politicians, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have profited from equities trading while holding positions of power.Roughly 80% of the $TRUMP token supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and affiliates, according to the project’s website. Some $325 million worth of trading fees have gone to insiders through a built-in mechanism that routes a percentage of each trade to wallets controlled by the project since launching in January, according to Chainalysis. A conflict?Although Trump’s decision to host a gala for major TRUMP token holders raises ethical concerns for many, views in the crypto industry are decidedly mixed. According to Wormhole general counsel Cathy Yoon, although the token introduced new buyers to the Solana ecosystem, it “probably isn’t the best thing to have happened for crypto.”“I don’t think generally promoting $TRUMP is inherently illegal, but I’d say it does raise issues of integrity and a ton of ethical questions,” Yoon told The Block in an email. "I guess the one good thing about a blockchain based token is that if wallets are associated with foreign states, there would presumably be a way to track that."Olta Andoni, another prominent crypto lawyer, noted that the launch in January was largely fine because Trump “didn't actively promote it.”“I personally think it is memecoin like other memecoins and there is nothing illegal going on (as many other attorneys are thinking of it)," Andoni said. "Maybe the timing wasn't good but at the same time we wanted Trump to support crypto no? And he started with his first NFT project, now memecoin and I bet he would experiment with other projects as well, maybe AI soon…."Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. 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