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Two Democratic lawmakers have called on government regulators to open an investigation into the recently launched meme coins released by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
Some shit you should know before you read: Days before President Trump took office, he launched a meme cryptocurrency called $TRUMP, followed shortly by First Lady Melania Trump’s $MELANIA coin. The $TRUMP coin debuted at under $10 and surged to $75 before falling to $33.88, while the $MELANIA coin started at $7, briefly climbed to $12, and later dropped to $4. Combined, the coins caused the Trumps’ net worth to initially skyrocket to $58 billion almost overnight, with 80% of $ TRUMP’s shares owned by Trump-affiliated business entities. In the days leading up to his inauguration, Trump promoted the coins through his social media platforms, though he has stopped doing so since taking office.
What’s going on now: In a letter directed to the Office of Government Ethics, the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said they were deeply concerned over the recent launch of the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins. The lawmakers called on regulators to investigate what they described as “unprecedented concerns” regarding conflicts of interest, consumer risks, and the possibility of untraceable foreign influence.
Highlighting what they described as the “dangers,” they wrote, “Anyone, including the leaders of hostile nations, can covertly buy these coins, raising the specter of uninhibited and untraceable foreign influence over the President of the United States.” They further argued that Trump’s control of regulatory agencies created “an unavoidable conflict of interest,” as he stands to benefit directly from the coins while overseeing policies for the cryptocurrency market. Warren and Auchincloss also questioned whether regulators even have the tools to “track and identify purchases” of the coins and whether current laws are sufficient to prevent foreign governments or individuals from using the coins to gain influence over the administration.
This all comes as President Trump was recently asked about his meme coins during a press conference on his first full day back in the White House. When a reporter informed him that the coins had generated billions of dollars in value within days of their launch, Trump claimed he had no idea how much they were worth or how much money he had personally made.
