Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina_)
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Although Trump did take many measures to promote the development of the crypto industry after taking office, it is well known that this is just a common "baiting" tactic used by politicians to catch big fish. Before becoming president, Trump was first a businessman, and if he can convince people that his erratic tariff policies affecting the global financial market were for the benefit of America with the slogan "Everything for America," then the issuance of the Meme coin Trump by Trump and his group, leveraging the influence of the presidency, is nothing short of a blatant money-making scheme.
In fact, Trump faced criticism and skepticism from several non-profit organizations in the U.S. at the time of the coin's launch, but the timing of the TRUMP release coincided perfectly with Trump's inauguration ceremony. Some opinions suggest that Trump avoided constitutional risks by launching it at that time; had he waited another day, he might have faced the risk of violating the Constitution and impeachment.
However, after his presidency, Trump and his family have repeatedly manipulated the price of the TRUMP token and profited from the crypto market, actions that have drawn the attention of U.S. regulators. On June 11, the U.S. CLARITY Act passed the House Financial Services Committee review, after facing multiple delays due to Democratic lawmakers questioning whether Trump's involvement in cryptocurrency could constitute a conflict of interest; on June 12, after a month of deliberation, the U.S. Senate finally voted to pass the GENIUS Act, and according to insiders revealing, Democrats continued to criticize the bill for fostering "Trump's crypto corruption."
Reviewing Trump's Tactics to Manipulate TRUMP Prices Using Presidential Influence
It is an undeniable fact that Trump and his family have profited from the crypto industry, with their business scope covering Meme coins, DeFi, stablecoins, crypto wallets, and BTC ETFs. However, beyond normal business activities, Trump and his family have repeatedly used the influence of the U.S. presidency to achieve commercial objectives, which may constitute political corruption, with TRUMP being the most representative example.
Manipulating TRUMP Prices Using Trump's Social Media Influence
At the time of the TRUMP launch, on January 18, Trump announced the launch of his personal Meme coin TRUMP on his social media platforms, Truth Social and X. At this point, Trump was already the 47th president-elect and was set to hold his inauguration ceremony two days later. The timing of the TRUMP release, close to the inauguration date, could not possibly be a coincidence; it avoided constitutional risks while leveraging the momentum of the presidential inauguration to achieve a hot start.
Forbes also published that the launch of TRUMP exposed a fundamental tension in contemporary American politics: the fusion of personal wealth and political power for the president. While Trump positioned himself as a supporter of the cryptocurrency industry, promising to make America the "global cryptocurrency capital," he personally issued a token, with ownership concentrated in companies associated with Trump, and the issuance timing just before the inauguration ceremony could be seen as a clever attempt to monetize the presidential position.
The price of the TRUMP token peaked at $82 on January 19, after which it began a long-term decline, but the project team continued to leverage Trump's influence to boost and manipulate the price.
On March 1, there were reports that the Trump Group would apply for a trademark for "TRUMP" to launch a metaverse and NFT trading platform (which has not materialized). Following this news, TRUMP surged over 30% in two days, reaching a high of $17.8, before falling back. Although Trump claimed to use a blind trust and handed over major company affairs to his children, asserting that he did not directly control the group's operations, he indirectly or directly holds most of the shares in the Trump Group. Ultimately, what belongs to the president can never be taken away; only the family business is truly his, making the priorities clear.
On March 23, Trump posted on Truth Social: "I love TRUMP, it's very cool, they are all great." Following this, TRUMP surged over 20% in two days, peaking at $12, before falling back.
Hosting a TRUMP Dinner to Boost Prices, Using the Presidential Seal on Site
However, the market's G-point is constantly rising; merely relying on Trump's social media shout-outs without actual actions can no longer stimulate the market. The price of TRUMP fell below $10 in April, reaching a low of $7.1, until a big move arrived.
On April 23, market news broke that Trump would host a "TRUMP DINNER" for TRUMP token holders, with the first 220 holders eligible to participate. The dinner was scheduled for May 22, 2025, at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. Following this news, TRUMP continued to rise over the next week, peaking at $16.4, doubling from the April low of $7.1. For the following month, until the TRUMP dinner concluded, the TRUMP token remained in a state of fluctuating increase.
The TRUMP dinner itself had no selling points; the key was that Trump would dine with the participants. For attendees, dining with Trump was not about his age or personal hygiene, but rather about his presidential identity and the influence it brings. Consequently, the U.S. political sphere began to criticize Trump for using his presidential position for personal gain.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut stated: "This not only reflects Trump's true nature, but the TRUMP coin scheme may be the most blatant act of corruption ever committed by a president."
Consumer rights advocate Craig Holman commented that this is an attempt to buy presidential influence, and the sale of Trump's Meme coin contradicts what he said when he first entered politics: 'He is very wealthy and cannot be bought.' We have never had a president who loves money as much as this one.
On May 6, senior Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal sent an investigation letter to World Liberty Financial and Fight Fight Fight LLC, launching an investigation into Trump's activities in the cryptocurrency field. The investigation focuses on potential conflicts of interest involving the TRUMP token and WLFI (World Liberty Financial) project. Blumenthal stated that these activities could violate government ethics and federal laws.
Simultaneously, on the day of the TRUMP dinner, Trump's opponents gathered outside the Trump National Golf Club in Washington to protest the dinner for TRUMP token holders.
Even more brazenly, although White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated before the dinner that the president was attending in a personal capacity, the dinner organizers still used the official presidential seal on the TRUMP dinner event invitations and venue decorations, including Trump speaking to his TRUMP token investors from a podium adorned with the presidential seal, which may have already violated U.S. federal law. According to federal law, the national emblem cannot be used in a way that may "convey a false impression of government sponsorship or endorsement," and violators may face fines or up to six months in prison.
After the dinner ended, most of the major holders of the TRUMP Meme coin invited to attend President Trump's crypto dinner transferred their tokens to centralized exchanges, resulting in a 14.87% drop in the price of TRUMP that day. This farce ultimately concluded with a decline in TRUMP.
The Trump Wallet Farce: The Market's Disenchantment with TRUMP
On June 4, a farce involving a crypto wallet was staged by Trump-related interest groups, as Fight Fight Fight LLC, the company behind the TRUMP token, announced a partnership with MagicEden to launch a Trump crypto wallet. However, the Trump Group did not endorse this wallet, and both of Trump's sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, claimed that the project was not authorized by the Trump Group. Clearly, the issuer of TRUMP attempted to revive the TRUMP price by launching a presidential crypto wallet, but failed to communicate interests with the Trump Group beforehand, leading to this farce.
On June 7, Eric Trump posted announcing that the MEME coin TRUMP had reached a partnership with WLFI. The wallet project launched by TRUMP would no longer proceed, but World Liberty Financial planned to hold TRUMP in large quantities in its long-term treasury.
Eric Trump's move aimed to prevent the launch of the TRUMP crypto wallet, but in exchange, TRUMP would be held in the WLFI treasury. It is worth noting that WLFI's public treasury is akin to alchemy, having previously seen several "American coins" like ONDO rise sharply in price in a short period. Therefore, WLFI's announcement to hold TRUMP in its treasury was quite evident in its intentions.
However, after this strategy was announced, TRUMP did not experience a surge; its increase that day was only 4%. In the following days, although TRUMP closed higher daily, the gains were not impressive, peaking at $10.7 on June 12 before starting to decline.
It is clear that from the beginning, Trump could make the market go wild just by shouting on social media, but now even the launch of a crypto wallet fails to elicit a response. The market has become disenchanted with Trump's and his family's manipulative tactics regarding the TRUMP token. Additionally, this farce surrounding the Trump crypto wallet indicates that Trump's interest group is not harmonious, with everyone wanting to leverage Trump's presidential IP to get a piece of the crypto wave.
Trump Should Be Impeached
The TRUMP token could go to zero (and it should), but Trump's corrupt actions cannot be erased.
Most countries in the world have established strict laws and codes of conduct regarding public officials using their positions or influence to engage in and intervene in commercial activities. The U.S. Constitution stipulates that the president must adhere to compensation clauses, divided into foreign and domestic compensation clauses, as follows:
- Foreign Compensation Clause:
The United States shall not grant any noble title; no person holding any office of profit or trust under the federal government shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind from any king, prince, or foreign state.
- Domestic Compensation Clause:
The president shall receive a fixed salary during the specified period, and during his term, that salary shall not be increased or diminished; during this time, the president shall not receive any other form of compensation from the federal government or the states.
Therefore, the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly prohibit the president from "operating" a business, but it strictly limits him and his relatives from obtaining any benefits from domestic and foreign governments or officials through the compensation clauses. To comply with the law, most U.S. presidents have transferred their business assets into third-party managed blind trusts to avoid conflicts of interest.
However, although Trump also isolated his assets through a blind trust, his blood-related children continued to manage the family business. There have been multiple lawsuits in academia and Congress regarding whether he violated the compensation clauses during his term. During Trump's presidency as the 45th president of the United States, he was repeatedly accused of violating the foreign and domestic compensation clauses with his hotel and real estate businesses, but ultimately these accusations were terminated when Trump left office.
Three Representative Lawsuits During Trump's Presidency as the 45th President
It is evident that Trump has not been shy about using his "public" identity to profit, and this time the target of his profit-seeking has shifted to the crypto industry. The Financial Times previously analyzed that Trump has profited at least $350 million from TRUMP, including both token sales revenue and market-making fees.
In summary, Trump and his family openly bind their business empire to presidential power, manipulating token prices through presidential influence on one hand while attempting to distance themselves from the relationship under the guise of "blind trust" on the other, effectively turning the crypto industry into their family's ATM. Trump's brazen pressing of the "presidential privilege" button, trading one hype after another for personal gain, will only provoke more dissatisfaction, and it is believed that he will ultimately face backlash and legal repercussions.
On June 7, Trump shared a news article on his Truth Social platform stating that "Meme coin TRUMP is a tracker of Trump's achievements," in an attempt to highlight the close relationship between TRUMP and Trump, seeking to whitewash TRUMP. It pointed out that TRUMP provides retail investors with an opportunity to enter at the bottom and express their preferences by buying and selling this Meme coin; if they dislike Trump, they can choose to sell, and if they like him, they can choose to buy. Thus, the TRUMP token has become a new barometer for measuring Trump and his policies.
If the TRUMP token is indeed a tracker of Trump's achievements, then the people of New York should collectively short TRUMP now.
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