Trump's crypto dinner, where plates cost $1.5m, draws ethics concerns as president could make millions from meme coin
On Monday evening, Trump will attend the 'Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner,' hosted by MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports the president. The event, which costs $1.5 million per plate, will feature special guest David Sacks, NBC News reported.
Though MAGA Inc. supports Trump, he is unable to run for a third term, so it's unclear where that funding will go.
Then on Thursday, May 22, Trump is slated to attend a dinner for the top 220 investors in his memecoin, $Trump. Around 80 percent of the memecoin's supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and its affiliates.
Both events are part of Trump's push to get more people invested in crypto and make the United States the 'crypto capital of the world.'
In January, Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for the U.S. and directed his administration to promote the use of blockchain.
But the president's desire to integrate crypto more with the U.S. has worried some who believe his personal endeavors with his memecoin and crypto company, World Liberty Financial, could pose a conflict of interest.
State Democracy Defenders Action, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting election sabotage and autocracy, said in a recent report that Trump will 'likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing.'
'The regulation of digital assets is in its nascency, but rather than divest his crypto assets to avoid any possible conflict of interest, President Trump seems to have positioned himself to maximize profiting from them by adopting a less aggressive regulatory and enforcement program than his predecessor,' the group wrote.
Accountable.US, a nonpartisan advocacy group that checks powerful individuals in Washington, criticized the president for holding a dinner for top investors in his memecoin.
'Never in U.S. presidential history has there been a more nakedly corrupt self-enriching scheme,' Tony Carrk, the executive director at Accountable.U.S., said in a statement.
'The President is openly inviting investors to have a bidding war over who can buy the most access to him while he laughs all the way to the bank. There has never been a clearer case of a President using their office to put money in their pocket, or greater potential for special interests to buy an administration's favor that could threaten the public interest,' Carrk added.
Trump's memecoin peaked in value at approximately $70 after launching in January, but since announcing his exclusive dinner competition, it's surged around 60 percent. Trump has likely made millions from his memecoin, with one Reuters report from February estimating the president had $100 million in trading fees alone.
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