Eric Bono (@EricBono@mastodon.social)

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While there have been some attempts by Democratic Senators to sound the alarm with various agencies, these agencies are largely under Trump’s control. If there’s been any action on their letters, it hasn’t publicly materialized.

This is a dangerous convergence of the president’s financial interests and his power to shape policy, and it poses serious risks to all of us.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpolitics #USpol

The scope of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency conflicts illustrates a degree of corruption that makes the emoluments concerns of Trump’s first term seem quaint by comparison. Through his crypto ventures, Trump has created multiple avenues for personal enrichment: direct profits from cryptocurrency holdings and businesses, regulatory changes that boost his investments, potential insider trading, and opportunities for outside interests to buy favor through crypto “investments” that would be prohibited as campaign contributions. His dismantling of cryptocurrency oversight leaves consumers vulnerable to fraud and manipulation, while ensuring that neither he nor his benefactors will face meaningful scrutiny.

Despite the scale of these conflicts and the clear abuse of power, attempts to check this corruption have been limited and largely ineffective thus far. Democratic Senators have sent letters about both crypto-based and traditional asset-based financial corruption to the SEC Inspector General,23 the SEC,2425 the Deputy Attorney General,26 and state Attorneys General27, pushing for investigations into Trump’s and his administration officials’ conflicts of interest. If there’s been any action on these letters, it hasn’t publicly materialized.

ALT

Instead, the gutting of regulatory oversight has continued, creating a dangerous convergence of the president’s financial interests and his power to shape policy. The ensuing regulatory vacuum will allow cryptocurrency markets to become increasingly susceptible to manipulation and abuse, while providing cover for fraud, money laundering, bribery, and other crimes. The industry under Trump is on course to become even more of a predatory playground where insiders profit from exploitative schemes — high-risk lending programs promising to “democratize wealth”, unchecked bad actors peddling investment scams disguised as business opportunities, and memecoins functioning as thinly-veiled pump-and-dump operations — while ordinary investors are left without protection or recourse. And the degree to which the government has been embracing crypto also poses a risk to those who haven’t gotten involved in crypto trading at all, as regulations limiting things like banks becoming heavily exposed to crypto, or pension and retirement funds incorporating crypto into portfolios, threaten contagion that everyday people could be forced to bear.

I have disclosures for my work and writing pertaining to cryptocurrencies.

ALT

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@molly0xfff Is anyone doing a comprehensive corruption tracker? Haven't they already hauled in several billion dollars? Would be great if there were an eye candy infographic going all the way back to their inheritance.

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