The Trumps have cashed out around $390 million from their memecoins. A month after their launch, the SEC stated that memecoins do not fall under SEC authority.
![Memecoins
Days before Trump’s inauguration, he dropped the $TRUMP memecoin, horrifying even some of his most devoted crypto industry supporters who described the cash-grab as “absolutely preposterous … plumbing new depths of idiocy” [I75]. Shortly after, the Trump family launched a $MELANIA memecoin, seemingly seeking a second windfall. While memecoin valuations are challenging to calculate accurately, the Financial Times estimated in early March that he and his team had profited at least $350 million from the stunt.16 On April 15, the Trump-controlled wallet appeared to cash out an additional $4.6 million.17
The $MELANIA token team also appeared to cash out around $4.5 million in late March and early April.17 On April 7, Bubblemaps reported insiders had moved more tokens, notionally worth around $30 million, from project’s designated “community” wallets and began selling them.18 This followed reports that the $MELANIA token team is the same group involved in malfeasance around $LIBRA, a token affiliated with Argentina’s president Milei, and a widespread insider trading scandal involving Solana-based memecoins [I77].](/proxy/post_attachment/481375/dae3c2bef4.png "Memecoins
Days before Trump’s inauguration, he dropped the $TRUMP memecoin, horrifying even some of his most devoted crypto industry supporters who described the cash-grab as “absolutely preposterous … plumbing new depths of idiocy” [I75]. Shortly after, the Trump family launched a $MELANIA memecoin, seemingly seeking a second windfall. While memecoin valuations are challenging to calculate accurately, the Financial Times estimated in early March that he and his team had profited at least $350 million from the stunt.16 On April 15, the Trump-controlled wallet appeared to cash out an additional $4.6 million.17
The $MELANIA token team also appeared to cash out around $4.5 million in late March and early April.17 On April 7, Bubblemaps reported insiders had moved more tokens, notionally worth around $30 million, from project’s designated “community” wallets and began selling them.18 This followed reports that the $MELANIA token team is the same group involved in malfeasance around $LIBRA, a token affiliated with Argentina’s president Milei, and a widespread insider trading scandal involving Solana-based memecoins [I77].")
There’s of course also the NFTs, the bitcoin branded sneakers, and the Trumps’ personal crypto holdings, which are not well known.
And there’s also the substantial risk of insider trading in crypto, mirroring similar concerns we’ve seen raised recently about insider trading in traditional assets surrounding Trump’s tariff announcements.
![Crypto holdings
While the specifics of the Trump family’s crypto holdings remain largely unknown, financial disclosures and blockchain records shed some light. In August 2024, Trump reported holding $1 million to $5 million in ETH,21 which matched with a publicly disclosed Ethereum wallet then holding around $2.28 million worth of the token. Trump later sold sizable portions of those tokens beginning in December 2024.22
The personal crypto holdings of Trump family members who stand to benefit from market movements under Trump have not been publicly disclosed. Some seem keen to experiment with moving markets themselves, with Eric Trump tweeting “In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH. You can thank me later” in February, right around the time World Liberty Financial was moving a substantial amount of ETH to Coinbase [I76].](/proxy/post_attachment/481377/26e5470141.png "Crypto holdings
While the specifics of the Trump family’s crypto holdings remain largely unknown, financial disclosures and blockchain records shed some light. In August 2024, Trump reported holding $1 million to $5 million in ETH,21 which matched with a publicly disclosed Ethereum wallet then holding around $2.28 million worth of the token. Trump later sold sizable portions of those tokens beginning in December 2024.22
The personal crypto holdings of Trump family members who stand to benefit from market movements under Trump have not been publicly disclosed. Some seem keen to experiment with moving markets themselves, with Eric Trump tweeting “In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH. You can thank me later” in February, right around the time World Liberty Financial was moving a substantial amount of ETH to Coinbase [I76].")
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.
For those who prefer it, don’t forget there’s an audio version of these newsletters! There’s an embedded player in the article, or find it in the Citation Needed audio feed wherever you get your podcasts. 100% real human voice, no text-to-speech. https://pod.link/1719025552
@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.
