Contest offers Trump access for top $TRUMP coin holders while critics raise disclosure concerns
A meme coin linked to Donald Trump is offering access to the former president in exchange for digital tokens.
It has generated more than US$320m in creator fees and is drawing scrutiny for its anonymous structure and political implications, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
According to The Canadian Press, the contest rules on the US$TRUMP coin’s website state that the top 220 holders will be invited to a May 22 dinner at Trump’s Washington-area golf club.
The top 25 holders will also attend a pre-dinner reception.
The promotion page urged, “Let the President know how many US$TRUMP coins YOU own!”
After the announcement, the coin’s price rose from US$9 to US$14, then traded at around US$11 by Monday, with over US$1.3m in trading fees generated within that week, according to Chainalysis.
Critics, including several Democrats, say the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency may allow actors to influence Trump without public scrutiny. Unlike campaign donations, meme coin purchases are not subject to disclosure laws.
The meme coin’s website assures registrants that their legal names and contact information “will never be publicly shown.”
Users appear on a leaderboard by username, ranked by the volume and duration of their coin holdings.
A message below the 220th place reads: “You’re so close. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for your US$TRUMP dinner.”
On Monday night, Trump hosted a private “Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner” fundraiser sponsored by MAGA Inc. at the same golf club.
An invitation circulating online listed a US$1.5m-per-person entry fee. While the White House did not release an attendee list, MAGA Inc. is required to disclose donors in future public filings.
Meanwhile, the team behind the Trump coin has continued to promote the contest on social media.
A post last week from the official X account stated, “Good News! President Trump is allowing one more person to attend Dinner with Trump,” inviting users to share memes for a chance to win.
12 days left until the Dinner with $TRUMP for the Top 220 Holders competition ends.
— TrumpMeme (@GetTrumpMemes) April 30, 2025
Good News! President Trump is
allowing one more person to attend Dinner with Trump. He wants someone special!
🔁 RT and reply to this with your best $TRUMP meme!
Our favorite $TRUMP memes…
The top four holders will also receive Trump-themed watches valued at US$100,000.
According to the website, CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, and another company receive “trading revenue derived from trading activities” of the meme coin.
At launch, 20 percent of the planned 1 billion total coins were released—half for public sale and half placed into a liquidity pool.
As explained by blockchain firm Nansen, decentralised exchanges use liquidity pools to pair the US$TRUMP coin with other tradeable cryptocurrencies.
“You don’t really care about what happens to the price. You only care that there is continuous volume,” said Nicolai Søndergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.
Trump launched the meme coin just before taking office. According to an ethics agreement, he is barred from day-to-day decision-making at the Trump Organization during his presidency and is limited in the financial information he can access.
During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump claimed not to follow the coin’s price and rejected suggestions that he should give up any profits from it.
“Should I contribute all of my real estate that I’ve owned for many years if it goes up a little bit because I’m president and doing a good job? I don’t think so,” Trump said.
Separately, David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc. and a crypto advisor to Trump, has raised US$300m to launch a publicly traded bitcoin investment company named Nakamoto, according to CNBC.
The venture includes US$200m in equity and US$100m in convertible debt and plans to merge with a Nasdaq-listed company. Its public listing is expected this summer.
Nakamoto will acquire companies in countries including Brazil, Thailand and South Africa and invest bitcoin into them.
CNBC reported that Bailey’s advisory board includes prominent investors. Similar to firms like Strategy and Twenty One, Nakamoto aims to allow investors to gain bitcoin exposure through stock.
Jack Mallers of Twenty One told CNBC, “We feel like we’re big enough to win entering the market with billions of dollars of capital upon launch.”
He added that the firm is also small enough to grow and aims to deliver bitcoin-denominated returns amid increasing competition for bitcoin exposure in the capital markets.
