Trump is hosting a dinner for top buyers of his memecoin

President Trump is scheduled to host the top buyers of his cryptocurrency, $TRUMP, for a private dinner at his golf club in Washington, D.C., tonight.

Invitations for the event were extended to the top 220 $TRUMP holders as of Monday. Of that group, the top 25 holders will be granted an “ultra-exclusive private VIP reception” with Trump, as well as a White House tour.

What is $TRUMP?

The cryptocurrency is known as a memecoin, or a project whose underlying value stems from being a popular internet meme. The President launched $TRUMP three days before his January 20 inauguration, with 80% of the coin project owned by two Trump-affiliated companies. A share of each trade is also routed to crypto wallets linked to Trump firms.

• Like many memecoins, $TRUMP’s value fluctuates wildly. After debuting at $10/token, the individual price rose as high as $71 hours later, before a steady decline to its current price of ~$14.

Who’s attending tonight’s dinner? The top 220 $TRUMP holders have their crypto user names and wallet addresses listed on a Trump website leaderboard, but their real identities aren’t disclosed outside of voluntary announcements—like the #1 holder, crypto mogul Justin Sun.

• The amount of money spent to secure a spot ranged from $55,000-$37.7 million, with an average of $1.8 million/seat, per an analysis by blockchain analytics company Nansen.
• As of two weeks ago, 19 of the top 25 holders and more than half of the top 220 had bought the coin using foreign exchanges that claim to exclude US customers, according to Bloomberg ($).

The other side of the coin: Critics have raised ethical concerns about $TRUMP and the President’s other recent crypto ventures, including a newly launched stablecoin. Watchdog groups say the President is directly benefiting from his office and could use his crypto to trade favors with benefactors who remain anonymous to the public. They also note that it’s generally illegal for non-US citizens to donate to American political candidates.