Trump's meme coin sees massive surge in investments after exclusive dinner offer

A new analysis by The Washington Post reveals that US President Donald Trump’s meme coin has attracted tens of millions of dollars in investments since a recent announcement. 

The announcement offered top buyers a chance to join Trump for an "intimate private dinner" next month, prompting a surge in purchases. 

According to the report, 27 crypto wallets have each bought over 100,000 $TRUMP coins, valued at approximately a million dollars each, following the announcement that the top 220 coin holders would be rewarded with a special event on May 22 at Trump National Golf Club, just outside Washington, D.C.

The news has sparked concern about potential conflicts of interest, as the coin offers direct access to the president, a move that some critics argue could blur ethical lines. The largest known purchase involved 2 million $TRUMP coins worth approximately $24 million, contributing to the collective 8 million $TRUMP coins—worth roughly $100 million—acquired by the 27 wallets. Crypto wallets are typically anonymous, making it difficult to identify the individuals behind these purchases.

The meme coin’s value has skyrocketed by more than 30 per cent since the announcement, reaching around $12 per coin, which has increased the value of the wallets associated with Trump’s business partners by about $100 million. The team behind the meme coin, a group aligned with Trump’s family business, also profits from transaction fees on purchases and trades. In the past week alone, the project has earned $1.25 million in fees.

Trump, who has long expressed his ambition to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet,” has supported his sons’ endorsement of the meme coin as the "hottest digital meme on earth." However, critics argue that this promotion risks creating a "pay-to-play" scenario, where wealthy individuals could potentially purchase access to the president. Virginia Canter, the chief ethics counsel for State Democracy Defenders Action and a former White House associate counsel under Barack Obama, criticised the project, stating, “He’s actually selling access, personal access, to him and to the White House if people invest in this meme coin, which really has no intrinsic value.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) also condemned the venture, writing on X, “This isn’t Trump just being Trump. The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close.”

Despite the backlash, the meme coin has flourished. The project is managed by a Trump Organization affiliate and a Delaware-registered company, Fight Fight Fight, which together own 80 per cent of the coins. The company, led by Trump’s friend and entrepreneur Bill Zanker, is named after Trump’s rallying cry following his attempted assassination last year in Pennsylvania.

Since the meme coin’s launch just days before the January inauguration, it has earned Trump and his business partners roughly $41 million in fees and $312 million in sales. Only the top 220 coin holders are eligible for the exclusive gala dinner, and a leaderboard ranks the anonymous accounts based on their holdings, with names like “elon,” “MTGA,” and “boop.”

While most buyers remain anonymous, blockchain analysis tools used by The Post suggest some recent purchasers may have received funds from Binance, a crypto exchange that doesn't serve US customers, raising the possibility that these investors are not American.

The largest wallet on the leaderboard, known as “Sun,” holds over 1.1 million $TRUMP coins, valued at more than $13 million. This wallet is linked to HTX, a Chinese crypto exchange, and the crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who invested $30 million in Trump’s World Liberty Financial last year. Sun is currently under investigation by the SEC for fraud, and recent legal actions suggest his investment may face scrutiny.

The meme coin's website promotes the May 22 event as “one of the most exclusive events in the world.” However, the terms and conditions warn that Trump might be unable to attend, and if the dinner is cancelled, attendees will receive a “limited edition” Trump NFT instead.

Investors in Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, have voiced dissatisfaction with the preferential treatment given to crypto investors. Chad Nedohin, an investor in the company, posted on Truth Social, “Where’s the part for [Trump Media] OGs who’ve been wiped out for 4 years?”

Despite a recent increase in value, the meme coin’s worth remains almost 90 per cent lower than its initial peak of $74, which it reached in mid-January, just before Trump’s inauguration.

In the meantime, the meme coin team continues to promote the gala event, posting on X that it would not be recorded. “This is real, in the room, shoulder-to-shoulder with Greatness,” the post said. “No second chances. If you’re in crypto, you need to be there.”

By Naila Huseynova