Hundreds of the main investors in the cryptocurrency currency of President Donald Trump met Thursday for an exclusive black tie dinner with the president, which some critics condemn as a payment event for shameless game aimed at enriching the most powerful man in the world.
Among the views that arrived at the event were Lamar Odom of the NBA and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, the magnate of the cryptocurrencies Justin Sun and Kendall Davis, an investor of cryptocurrencies based in Austin, which told ABC News that “came to advocate that things were done well in the crypto space.”
Two hundred and twenty cryptocurrency merchants, including many abroad, pumped dozens of millions of dollars to Trump memes currency to obtain admission to the gala through a contest that gave invitations to the main investors, with at least some of the funds that flow directly to the chest of the Trump family.
Promoted on the La Moneda website as the “most exclusive invitation in the world”, the dazzling issue in Trump’s private golf club in northern Virginia on Thursday night was headed by the president himself.
The critics of the gala, including some republican legislators and defenders of the cryptocurrency industry, have criticized the agreement as an opportunity for the president and his family to benefit personally personally from their position of power.
Outside the event, dozens of protesters, including Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. – Signs were seen: “America is not for sale”, “no king” and “They stop Trump’s cryptographic corruption” and sing slogans of a feeling similar to those attending the arrival of the place.
“It definitely seems that Trump is selling access to the president through his memes currency, and that money goes directly to his pocket,” said Molly White, a cryptographic engineer and researcher who has closely followed the various Trump cryptocurrencies. “[Trump] He is really using cryptocurrency to increase his personal wealth in a way that he had not really done. “
Trump’s meme coin, a type of digital currency that is often based on an Internet meme, was launched in January, on the eve of its inauguration, and the value of the currency shot immediately more than $ 75 per Token. But the currency, known as $ Trump, suffered a precipitated fall in the following weeks, playing around $ 7 in April.
It was then that the gala was announced, framed online as a “private intimate dinner” where the main investors in $ Trump “would listen to the president of First hand Trump talk about the future of cryptography.” The 25 main investors, according to the announcement, would also receive a “special VIP tour” and an exclusive reception with the president before dinner.
President Donald Trump talks about the Defense Shield of the Golden Dome missiles in the Oval Office of the White House, on May 20, 2025, in Washington.
Chris Kleponis/EPA-EFE/Shuttersock
The next day, the value of the currency globalized in more than 55%. Then he proceeded to fluctuate when those who seek to obtain admission to the gala bought the coin and others who seek to benefit from the exaggeration proceeded to sell
While investors committed a place in the company Online classification tableThe main 220 collectively spent more than $ 140 million for a seat on the table on Thursday, according to an analysis of the Nansen data analysis firm.
Several investors said that the opportunity to rub their shoulders with the commander in chief, and, in some cases, to promote their businesses before the most powerful man in the world, it was worth the price of admission.
Cherry Hsu, executive of a Blockchain startup based in Singapore called Memecore, said the company co -founder, known online as “ICE”, would attend the gala on behalf of the company after Memecore finished second in the competition. Hsu told ABC News that “ICE” was anxious to talk to Trump about “balance regulation with decentralization” in cryptocurrencies, and that his great investment in Trump memes currency was directly linked to the opportunity to interact with the president.
“We want to sit next to Trump, if possible,” he said. “I think it will be interesting.”
Like “ICE”, most other gala attendees remain wrapped in mystery: their hidden identities behind the pseudonyms of three or four letters connected to their cryptocurrency wallets, and seem to be located outside the United States. At least 20 of the 25 main investors seem to be based abroad, according to the analysis of the non -profit research group responsible.
Among those who attended are an Australian entrepreneur, a cryptography enthusiast with headquarters in New York, and Justin Sun, a controversial Chinese cryptographic magnate who has negotiated deep business ties with the Trump family. In addition to its multimillionaire investment in $ Trump, SUN has also invested $ 75 million in World Liberty Financial, another cryptographic company backed by Trump. A month after that investment, the lawyers of the SEC under the Trump administration moved to stop an alleged case of fraud against Sun.
In X, Sun wrote that he was “honored to support @potus” and “excited to connect with everyone, speak cryptography and discuss the future of our industry” at the gala. Sun has not responded to ABC News consultations.
It is not clear exactly how much Trump is due to benefit from his memes coin. Data analysts suggest that the owners of La Moneda, which includes a LLC that has been owned by Trump, has probably already won millions of dollars in transaction rates. An estimate of the use of data firm Flipside said Trump and its partners have won around $ 3 million in transaction rates.
And although the Trump family and its partners may have benefited financially, most Trump investors have lost. According to CNBC reports from Blockchain’s analysis firm Chain data58 wallets had made millions of their Trump coins investments as of May 6, while approximately 764,000 cryptographic wallets had lost money.
Another Nansen analysis suggests that more than 70% of tokens holders have incurred losses for a total of approximately $ 21 million since Trump announced the gala competition, including an unidentified investor that lost $ 2.5 million.
Once it is a cryptographic skeptic, Trump has fully accepted cryptocurrencies for both his personal businesses and part of the policy platform of his administration, declaring the “cryptographic president” and the launch of a review of the regulatory and application of the United States application to digital currencies.
“The entire cryptocurrency compliance program in the Securities Securities Commission has been absolutely demolished,” said the former SEC lawyer John Reed Stark, at ABC News’ this week with George Stephanopoulos earlier this month. “All the research of the SEC regarding cryptography closed. All sec Litigation that involves dismissed or leisurely cryptographic.”
As his administration has worked to promote cryptocurrencies, including the announcement of a national cryptocurrency reserve, Trump and his family have submerged in companies related to cryptocurrencies in recent months.
In addition to the $ Trump Meme currency, World Liberty Financial, the separate cryptographic company launched by Trump’s two older children, recently associated in a $ 2 billion commercial agreement with an investment company backed by the state of Abu Dhabi and Crypto Exchange Platform Binance.
Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, has denied that Trump’s personal incursions into cryptocurrencies are equivalent to influence.
“The president is working to ensure good offers for the American people, not for themselves,” Kelly said in a statement. “President Trump only acts in the best interest of the American public, so he was overwhelmingly re -elected to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses of false media.”
The Thursday’s gala is developed in the context of a fight in Congress for the first important legislation to regulate certain types of cryptocurrencies, called Genius Law. For weeks, the Democrats have threatened to derail the legislation, partially citing the possible conflicts of interest of the president. Some Republicans have also recognized that Trump family tangles in the cryptographic industry have made the legislation “more difficult.”
“That is the concern that some people have. I know he has put his things in a blind trust,” Senator Cynthia Lummis, Wyo’s Republican, said Tuesday. “But their children are involved in these assets, and that still gives some people a pause.”
Democrats have level more hard criticism. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D, Massachusetts, called on Thursday “corruption in sight.”
“We have no idea if they are getting something in exchange for their great investment in Donald Trump personally,” he said.
Earlier this week, the senators took a key step to advance in the bill of the genius law, but still faces obstacles when passing the complete Senate.
Allison Pecorin of ABC News contributed to this report.
