Latest news with #MELANIA
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Reasons Trump's Net Worth Increased by Investing in Crypto — Should You Invest Too?
President Donald Trump's family's net worth has increased in recent months, with a significant chunk of that growth tied to cryptocurrency. A recent CBS News report estimated the Trump family's net worth rose by $2.9 billion, 40% of which came from crypto-related ventures. Read Next: Find Out: But financial experts warn that average investors may not be able to expect the same results. Here are three key reasons Trump profited from crypto and why those same factors might not apply to everyday investors. Trump didn't just invest in crypto; he created it. Much of the gains came from coins like $TRUMP and $MELANIA, which were launched and are largely owned by his companies. As reported by the State Democracy Defenders Fund, Axios estimated that 89% of Trump's net worth was comprised of $TRUMP at its peak. 'Trump's net worth rose because he held most of the $TRUMP coin supply. He minted it. His companies controlled 80% of the tokens,' said David Materazzi, CEO at Galileo FX. 'Price spiked, he gained.' In this case, Trump didn't bet on a crypto; he created one. Average investors who are simply buying crypto, on the other hand, may not see the same profits. Explore More: Trump also earns fees each time the tokens are traded. That means revenue keeps flowing in even if the coin loses value. 'Trump profits as a coin creator, earning fees regardless of the coin's performance,' said John Deaton, crypto law expert and founder of CryptoLaw. 'The TRUMP meme coin generated over $320 million in trading fees for its creators, with the Trump family's entities earning significant revenue even as the coin's value decreased.' While this boosted Trump's net worth, 764,000 investors lost money on $TRUMP coin, according to a CNBC report. Trump isn't the only one who saw an increase in net worth because of crypto investments. Many other coin creators have seen similar windfalls. For example, as reported by Vox, there are reports that the creator of bitcoin, whose real identity is unknown, holds as much as 1.1 million bitcoin. At bitcoin's May 28 trading price of about $108,900, that comes out to over $119 billion. 'This isn't unique to the Trump family,' Deaton said. 'Almost every meme coin ever created has benefited its creators and insiders, while retail investors have lost money.' While crypto can be lucrative for those who build and launch tokens, it can be a different story for the average person. Cryptocurrency is notoriously volatile, and average investors should practice caution and never invest more than they can afford to lose when buying any crypto. Editor's note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Says Trump's Executive Order To Lower Medication Costs Has a 'Real Shot' -- Here's Why 6 Popular SUVs That Aren't Worth the Cost -- and 6 Affordable Alternatives This article originally appeared on 3 Reasons Trump's Net Worth Increased by Investing in Crypto — Should You Invest Too? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Int'l Business Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
House Dems Demand Reports On Trump Crypto Projects' 'Suspicious Activity'
The House ranking members said Trump's crypto ventures raised concerns about potential bribery and market manipulation among others They also mentioned how TRON Founder Justin Sun supposedly 'saved' WLFI by purchasing $WLFI tokens in the millions They said there are concerns of potential 'insider trading' involved around the $TRUMP meme coin Top House Democratic members on Wednesday urged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to provide all available reports on alleged "suspicious activity" related to U.S. President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency ventures. Rep. Gerald Connolly, a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform, Rep. Joe Morelle, a ranking member of the House Committee on House Administration, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, demanded that Bessent submit all suspicious activity reports (SARs) on World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin. House Dems Raise Issue Over Potential Bribery, Fraud In their letter, the Democratic lawmakers said Trump's involvement in crypto has raised "myriad concerns about potential bribery, influence-peddling, threats to national security, market manipulation, and/or predatory and deceptive practices targeting vulnerable Americans." According to the lawmakers, the Trump administration has adopted "a strident agenda of promoting crypto" and also moved to eliminate major regulatory guardrails in the crypto industry. Notably, TRON blockchain Founder Justin Sun was mentioned in the letter. The Democratic leaders said Sun "saved" WLFI after the DeFi project fell "dramatically short" of its initial fundraising goal by purchasing $45 million worth of the WLFI token. As for the TRUMP meme coin and First Lady Melania Trump's MELANIA token, the policymakers said there is much potential bad actors, "including authoritarian governments and companies they control," may have bought into the coins. "Moreover, the $TRUMP coin offering has also raised fears that the tokens may jeopardize national security because 'they allow foreign agents to buy large amounts of the token as leverage over Trump's policy decisions.'" There was also the issue on whether the team behind the TRUMP meme coin may have "enabled insider trading" and may have also engaged in a "pump and dump" token scheme. This is not the first time Trump's crypto projects have been questioned over potential conflicts of interest. There have also been concerns among crypto holders that they may have been "scammed by the first family" when they bought into the TRUMP and MELANIA coins. $TRUMP Meme Coin at $2B Market Cap Despite the ongoing scrutiny around Trump's crypto ventures, his TRUMP meme token remains one of the most valuable meme coins, as per CoinGecko data. As the world's fourth-largest meme token by market cap ($2.6 billion as of late Wednesday), the TRUMP coin is trading at around $13. The token's current price is far from its all-time high of above $44 in the early days of its launch.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Family-Linked Firms Profited $320M on Memecoin Despite 87% Decline Since Day One
CORRECTION (May 9, 11:58 UTC): Corrected headline, first bullet to say Trump-family linked firms profited millions from TRUMP token. Added details in the 11th paragraph about the creators of the token and their ties to trading revenue. U.S. President Donald Trump has come a long way since he said the value of crypto was 'based on thin air' in 2019. So much so that he is now one of the sector's largest proponents, foraying into memecoins, DeFi, NFTs, and even stablecoins. A new report by the State Democracy Defenders Fund estimates that Trump's family has increased their net worth by $2.9 billion thanks to crypto, and that now 40% of that net worth is being held in crypto assets. His deepening ties to the industry have reverberated across the political landscape, to the point that a broadly bipartisan stablecoin bill failed in a key vote Thursday after Democrats expressed concern about the extent to which he is profiting off the sector. Trump's support helped spark a continued bull market after his election victory in November, a market that's been dominated by two trends: memecoins and institutional adoption of bitcoin via ETFs. While the latter is the province of, generally, institutional investors and providers, it's the memecoin business that puts retail investors at risk and is potentially ripe for exploitation. On Thursday, Solidus Labs claimed that 98% of memecoins issued on the token creation platform were rug pulls or pump-and-dump schemes. The platform had since refuted the report's claims. Another analysis by Chainalysis, cited by CNBC, suggested that the vast majority of TRUMP token holders lost money. A memecoin is a type of crypto token with no inherent value, often based, as the name suggests, on a meme or cartoon character. Popular examples of this are dogecoin (DOGE), shiba inu (SHIB) and pepe (PEPE). The craze reached a climax in January when Trump touted his own TRUMP token on social media, followed by MELANIA— named after his wife. TRUMP, which hit a day-one peak of $77.26, is now trading at $10.80, down a whopping 86%. MELANIA slumped even further, losing more than 97% of its value in four months to trade recently at 33 cents. The hype around Trump's social media post led to a flurry of trading activity. Data from Chainalysis reveals that 760,000 wallets, mainly belonging to retail investors, lost money on the TRUMP token. A small group of people, however, was immune to those losses. The Chainanalysis data show 58 wallets made profits in excess of $10 million. The token's creators netted a whopping $320 million in trading fees, although it's worth noting that around 5% of the fees went to the decentralized exchange Meteora, which hosted the launch. CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC collectively own 80% of the TRUMP token's supply, subject to a 3-year unlocking schedule, according to the official website. CIC Digital LLC and Celebration Cards LLC, the owners of Fight Fight Fight LLC, will also receive revenue derived from trading activities of the token, the website said. MELANIA was allegedly scooped up by a group of insiders before it was advertised on social media in a technique known as 'sniping.' This group of insiders made $100 million on MELANIA tokens by swapping tokens for USDC after its price doubled, according to an investigation by the Financial Times. One insider with access to the tokens before they went live was Kelsier Ventures' Hayden Davis, who revealed his involvement during an interview in February. Davis was also the brains behind the botched LIBRA stablecoin that brought political chaos to Argentina. In an interview with Coffeezilla in February, Davis said: 'This is going to put me in a lot of danger. Which is fine, I'll answer. I was a part of it [MELANIA]. I think the team did want to snipe it because of how big the snipe was on TRUMP. We definitely weren't the big sniper, that was what we were trying to avoid. We didn't take any liquidity out, zero.' Trump's foray into crypto isn't limited to memecoins. The U.S. president's family is also behind World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that raised around $590 million across two pre-sale rounds earlier this year. It raised funds at a time when the market was resting around all-time highs, so that figure of raised crypto is now much less. Arkham Intelligence data suggests that World Liberty Financial holds around $103 million worth of crypto. Trump also attempted to ride the coattails of non-fungible token (NFT) hype in 2022, releasing a series of cartoons depicting the president as a superhero or a cartoon character. Trump made around $8 million from rolling out these NFTs, according to financial disclosures. Most recently, there was the crypto dinner event, which saw Trump host a group of 25 TRUMP holders to a private dinner and tour of his Virginia golf club. A Bloomberg report reveals that 19 of those 25 holders were either foreign entities or used an offshore exchange banned in the U.S. He's set to host another dinner for the top 220 holders of his token later in May. U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. called for Trump's impeachment, asking the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether Trump violated federal ethics rules by inviting top investors. The Trump family did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump's social media platform rumored to launch new meme coin
Rumors have been circulating around the Truth Social media network launching a meme coin. Truth Social is a social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, or TMTG (Nasdaq: DJT), the media and tech company majority-owned by President Donald Trump. On May 12, Ran Neuner, founder of the Crypto Banter platform, wrote on X that the Truth Social meme coin is going to launch within the next 72 hours. It seems similar to the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin, he added. Crypto entrepreneur and analyst Wendy O was rather critical of the potential launch, saying that Truth Social launching a meme coin is "silly." Instead, they should just stick to TRUMP, she added. "But in true crypto fashion, by all means keep launching tokens." A meme coin is a spoof of a mainstream cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. It is called so because it gives a hat tip to memes that go viral on the internet. Trump launched the eponymous OFFICIAL TRUMP meme coin on the Solana blockchain on Jan. 17, only three days before his presidential inauguration. It soared over 300% to reach the record high of $73.43 on Jan. 19. The same day, Trump's wife, Melania, also launched the eponymous MELANIA meme coin. It reached the record high of $13.05 on Jan. 20. Both the meme coins have tanked since then, with TRUMP and MELANIA trading at $13.98 and $0.415 at the time of writing. The Trump family is also involved with other crypto projects such as the World Liberty Financial, the USD1 stablecoin, etc., which has drawn criticism from the Democrats. TheStreet Roundtable has reached out to Trump Media & Technology Group for comment and will update this story if a response is received. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump to attend dinner with top holders of his meme coin
President Trump will attend a dinner next month with the top holders of his meme coin, the token's official website announced Wednesday. The dinner with the president will be available to the top 220 holders of $TRUMP, the meme coin he unveiled shortly before taking office in January. The event, scheduled for May 22 at Trump's golf club near Washington — is touted as an opportunity to hear 'first-hand' from Trump about the future of cryptocurrency. The top 25 holders will also receive an invitation to an 'exclusive' reception with the president and a 'special' White House tour, according to the website. It urges participants to 'hold as much $TRUMP as you can' through May 12. 'The more $TRUMP you hold—and the longer you hold it—the higher Your Ranking will be,' the website reads. Trump launched his meme coin just days before his inauguration. It was closely followed by a similar token named after his wife, Melania Trump. The president's token quickly surged in value in the days after its release, jumping from $10 to about $70 in the first 48 hours. However, its value sank in the ensuing months. $TRUMP sat at around $9 as of Wednesday morning. It jumped up to nearly $15 on the dinner announcement. Both $TRUMP and $MELANIA are considered meme coins, cryptocurrencies whose value is largely tied to the popularity of a specific person, group or internet trend. As a result, these tokens tend to be volatile assets. The decision to launch the meme coins received a mixed response from the crypto world, despite broader alignment between the president and the industry. Some expressed concerns that the tokens could cast a negative light on Trump's crypto efforts. After fully embracing crypto during his 2024 campaign, Trump has become a key ally for the industry, appointing crypto-friendly candidates to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commerce Department and hosting industry leaders at the White House. At the same time, the president's various business ventures have continued to expand their footprint in the crypto industry, occasionally drawing scrutiny. World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture launched by Trump and his sons last fall, announced plans to launch a dollar-back stablecoin last month. Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Social's parent company, also unveiled a new partnership with to launch a series of exchange traded funds. The Hill reached out to the White House for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
