In the crypto world, meme coins are mostly just jokes with no intrinsic value. But the Trump family is parlaying the president鈥檚 meme coin into two valuable commodities: serious cash and access to the president.
Since the coin was launched earlier this year, it has generated more than $320 million in fees for its creators, according to the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. And on Monday, Trump a dinner he鈥檚 set to attend on May 22nd that鈥檚 open to almost anyone who buys enough of the coins.
According to the contest鈥檚 rules, the top 220 holders of the meme coin will get to go to the dinner at Trump鈥檚 Washington-area golf club. The top 25 holders will also get to attend a reception where they can rub shoulders with Trump beforehand.
鈥淟et the President know how many $TRUMP coins YOU own!鈥� the meme coin said on its promoting the dinner.
Trading activity in the meme coin jumped after the dinner was first announced and the price rose as well. But the Trumps don鈥檛 need to sell any coins to make money.
How Trump makes money off the meme coin
Decentralization is foundational to cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, the world鈥檚 most popular crypto, was born in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis as a digital currency meant to be uncontrolled by banks or governments.
Trump meme coins can be traded on a decentralized exchange, which is essentially a place where traders can swap goods without a middleman.
Instead of matching buyers and sellers one by one, decentralized exchanges use something called a liquidity pool to ensure trades can happen easily and instantly. Liquidity pools are essentially an automated pot of funds that pair meme coins like $TRUMP with more popular types of crypto that can be easily traded.
When the Trump meme coin was first launched, its creators initially released 20% of the planned 1 billion total coins. Half of that 20% was put up for public sale while the other half was put into a liquidity pool. CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, and another company receive 鈥渢rading revenue derived from trading activities鈥� of the Trump meme coins, according to its website.
Through the liquidity pool, the creators of Trump鈥檚 meme coins make money by charging tiny fees on each trade.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really care about what happens to the price. You only care that there is continuous volume,鈥� said Nicolai S酶ndergaard, a research analyst at the blockchain analytics firm Nansen. 鈥淏ecause the more volume there is, that means more trades and therefore more fees for you.鈥�
Since cryptocurrency blockchains are public, it鈥檚 possible to track how much in trading fees has been paid. Chainalysis said Trump meme coin creators made more than $1.3 million in trading fees in the week after the dinner was first announced. The value of the meme coin jumped from about $9 to around $14 just after the announcement. It was trading around $11 on Monday afternoon.
Trump downplays profits
Launched just before he took office, Trump鈥檚 meme coin has become one of the most high-profile ways the norm-breaking president has mixed politics and his personal finances.
The remaining 80% of Trump鈥檚 meme coins, which are still under a lock-up, have been allocated to CIC Digital and another company. An prohibits Trump from 鈥渄ay-to-day鈥� decision making at the Trump Organization when he鈥檚 president and limits the financial information about the business that can be shared with him.
During an interview with NBC鈥檚 Meet the Press over the weekend, Trump said he didn鈥檛 follow the price swings of his meme coin and dismissed the idea that he was profiting from the presidency. He also rejected a suggestion that he would forgo any profits made from his crypto endeavors.
鈥淪hould I contribute all of my real estate that I鈥檝e owned for many years if it goes up a little bit because I鈥檓 president and doing a good job? I don鈥檛 think so,鈥� Trump said.
Heavy promotion
The team behind Trump鈥檚 meme coins has been aggressively trying to promote the chance to eat with the president.
鈥淕ood News! President Trump is allowing one more person to attend Dinner with Trump,鈥� the meme coin鈥檚 official account on X last week, encouraging people to reply with memes featuring Trump. 鈥淥ur favorite $TRUMP memes will be shown to President Trump and we will pick 1 person who gets to come to the dinner on May 22nd!鈥�
The creators have also tried to up the ante by offering $100,000 Trump-themed to the top four holders of Trump鈥檚 meme coins.
Unknown guests
On Monday night, Trump is hosting a 鈥淐rypto & AI Innovators Dinner鈥� fundraiser sponsored by his Maga, Inc. super PAC at his golf club outside Washington. An invitation to the event that circulated online instructs those invited to pay $1.5 million per person to attend. The super PAC will be required to list donors in its regular public disclosures.
But whether the public will ever know who bought their way into the meme coin dinner with the president is unclear. Unlike political donations that must be publicly reported, there鈥檚 no disclosure requirement for meme coin buyers. The White House did not immediately respond to a question about whether it would share details of the dinner鈥檚 attendees.
Critics of Trump鈥檚 foray into meme coins, which includes several Democrats, say the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency gives bad actors the opportunity to try and unduly influence the president through purchasing his digital assets.
The Trump meme coin website assures those who register for the contest that their full legal name and contact information will 鈥渘ever be publicly shown.鈥�
Instead, registrants pick a username that鈥檚 displayed on the website鈥檚 The ranking is dependent not just on how many Trump meme coins someone holds, but also on how long.
After No. 220, the board has a note of encouragement for those just below the cut to buy more of the meme coins.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e so close. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for your $TRUMP dinner.鈥�
鈥斺赌�
Associated Press reporter Will Weissert contributed.
Alan Suderman, The Associated Press
