Trump Hosts Gala for Top Buyers of His Meme Coin
US President Donald Trump has hosted major buyers of the cryptocurrency that bears his name at a gala dinner, in an event that protesters and his Democratic opponents described as "corrupt".
$TRUMP was launched shortly before his inauguration in January, initially rising sharply in value before falling sharply afterwards, the BBC reports, CE Report quotes Kosova Press
"It's fundamentally corrupt - a way to buy access to the President," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote in X.
Protesters gathered outside the event on Thursday evening, which was held at a golf course near Washington, D.C., some holding signs that read "stop cryptocurrency corruption" and "no kings."
The White House has denied the allegations and in a video of the dinner posted on social media, Trump is seen saying "I've always put country far ahead of business."
"The Biden administration persecuted cryptocurrency innovators and we are bringing them back to the US, where they belong," Trump is also recorded saying.
The event occurred as Bitcoin - the leading cryptocurrency - was reaching a new record price in dollar terms of nearly $112,000 (£83,000) per coin, before falling slightly.
$TRUMP is what is known as a meme coin - a type of cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes or viral online trends.
Its price peaked at $75 in January before falling to less than $8 in April - it was trading at around $12.50 at the time of writing.
"This is something that has no apparent utility. It's not being used for payments. It's not being used as a store of value," said Rob Hadick, General Partner of Dragonfly, a cryptocurrency venture fund.
The dinner was advertised on the website gettrumpmemes.com as "THE MOST EXCLUSIVE INVITATION IN THE WORLD."
The top 220 buyers of the meme currency, which can be seen on a leaderboard, received invitations to the "optional black tie" event.
The main investor in the $TRUMP meme currency is billionaire cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who was charged with fraud and market manipulation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission during the Biden administration.
In February, the Trump administration suspended the case.
Sun said this week on social media platform X that he planned to attend the dinner, calling himself Trump's "biggest fan"!
Sun then made a series of posts on Thursday evening on X, including one saying it was an "honor" to attend the dinner.
Earlier in the day, Democratic senators held a press conference to denounce the event and demand the disclosure of those who would attend.
Calling the dinner "an orgy of corruption," Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Trump for "using the presidency of the United States to enrich himself through cryptocurrencies."
