A crypto firm's promise of a "gala dinner" with President Donald Trump briefly boosted the price of his meme coin, even as the coin's biggest holder moved tens of millions of dollars' worth of tokens into position to sell.
The firm behind $TRUMP is offering seats at what it calls "the most exclusive dinner in the world," held at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia with the president and three yet-to-be-named "Legends," and winners will be chosen by a formula that weighs how much $TRUMP they buy over the next two months, reported The Washington Sun.
The contest pushed the coin from about $2.05 to $2.23, well above the $1.50 it traded at for much of the summer, but the bump didn't last, and the price was back to $2.04 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Sun's review of public crypto transactions found that the largest $TRUMP account moved roughly $70 million worth of tokens into an account that would allow them to be sold – $27 million on Sept. 1, $26 million on Sept. 6 and $18 million on Sept. 20. Experts say such transfers are a necessary first step toward selling.
That account holds the large pool of tokens set aside for the coin's creators, according to Zach Everson, research director at the watchdog group Public Citizen. Who controls it now is unclear, and some or all of those rights may have been sold or transferred.
"Regular buyers are urged to hold for a shot at dinner with the president, while tokens reserved for the coin's creators head for the exits," Everson said.
Trump made more than $600 million from the meme coin last year, according to his financial disclosures. Everson estimates that retail investors have lost $4.7 billion on Trump's crypto ventures overall.
Corey Frayer, a former adviser to ex-SEC Chair Gary Gensler, projected that this year's sales could add another $192 million for Trump.
"What it looks like is they announce the competition for the dinner, and it drives the meme coin market up so they can sell more fake tokens at even higher prices," Frayer said.
A White House official rejected claims that the dinner amounts to buying access, noting that organizers say no attendee will get a private meet-and-greet with the president. "This is a private event — not a government function," the official said.
Bill Zanker, the longtime Trump associate who reportedly launched the coin, declined to comment.
One investor who has lost $400,000 on $TRUMP summed up his reaction in a text to the Sun: "The grift continues until morale improves."