Crypto investor and $TRUMP token holder, Nicholas Pinto, attends gala dinner for contest winners.
Nicholas Pinto
The value of President Donald Trump‘s meme coin plunged 16% as of Friday morning, simply hours after he hosted a black-tie gala at his Virginia golfing membership for its greatest consumers — an elite crowd that spent a mixed $148 million at the token for the risk to be there.
It used to be billed as “the most exclusive invitation in the world.”
Among the 220 attendees had been crypto influencers, trade executives like Sandy Carter of Unstoppable Domains, and previous NBA superstar Lamar Odom, who used the instance to reward Trump as “the greatest president” and advertise his personal token, $ODOM.
The most sensible 25 wallets had been promised a non-public reception and guided excursion. Others, like 25-year-old Nicholas Pinto — whose dad drove him to the development in his Lamborghini — left underwhelmed and nonetheless hungry.
“The food sucked,” Pinto stated. “Wasn’t given any drinks other than water or Trump’s wine. I don’t drink, so I had water. My glass was only filled once.”
Trump made just a temporary look. “He didn’t talk to any of the 220 guests — maybe the top 25,” Pinto stated.
All in, the president used to be there for 23 mins, Pinto stated. Trump delivered a short lived deal with re-hashing previous crypto speaking issues, then he left on a helicopter ahead of taking any questions or footage along with his meme coin contest winners.
Phones were not locked in RFID pouches, and safety used to be lax, in keeping with Pinto.
“Once Trump left, they didn’t really worry about anything else,” Pinto added.
The opulence used to be on complete show.
“Richard Mille watches weren’t even rare,” Pinto stated. “I saw at least 16 people wearing them. I never see that unless I’m at a high-end restaurant in Miami or Dubai.”
But the vibe used to be extra muted than anticipated, he stated: “Lots of people didn’t even hold the coin anymore. They were checking their phones during dinner to see if the price moved.”
Protests
For lawmakers and regulators, the dinner activate alarm bells.
The #1 token holder used to be Chinese-born crypto tycoon Justin Sun who’s these days going through Securities and Exchange Commission fraud fees that had been lately paused, with the company mentioning “the public interest.”
Sun holds over $22 million within the $TRUMP token and any other $75 million in World Liberty Financial’s local token.
“As the top holder of $TRUMP and proud supporter of President Trump, it was an honor to attend the Trump Gala Dinner,” Sun posted on Friday. “Thank you @POTUS for your unwavering support of our industry!”
Outside the gates of Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Va., a few hundred protesters amassed, in keeping with NBC News. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., joined them, backing a brand new End Crypto Corruption Act with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Signs learn “Crypto Corruption” and “Trump is a traitor.”
President Donald Trump speaks at dinner for meme coin contest winners at his golfing membership in Virginia.
Nicholas Pinto
Crypto on Capitol Hill
“The Trump family activity in the memecoin space makes my work in Congress more complicated,” Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., informed CNBC Friday.
Hill, who is main negotiations on a bipartisan stablecoin invoice referred to as the GENIUS Act, referred to as the gala “a distraction from the good work we need to do.”
Now, the GENIUS Act, a invoice to keep an eye on stablecoins, is in danger.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., lately added a arguable rider to the invoice that may cap bank card overdue charges — what is observed as a poison tablet that might alienate banking allies and stall ultimate approval.
On Thursday evening because the meme coin contest dinner used to be underway, a bloc of Senate Democrats introduced they might be pushing for a brand new provision that may ban presidents and senior officers from profiting off crypto ventures whilst in place of work — a right away problem to the Trump-linked stablecoin USD1 that introduced this spring.
in Washington, there may be rising fear that political infighting over Trump’s crypto ventures may derail the stablecoin invoice altogether. That poses an excellent larger chance.
According to the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, and different main banks are in early talks to factor a unified virtual greenback to compete with Tether, the foreign-controlled stablecoin that now instructions over 60% of worldwide marketplace percentage.
Those plans hinge on felony readability.
If the GENIUS Act stalls, the U.S. may lose its window to regain flooring within the world race for virtual bills.
The White House has attempted to attract a line between Trump the president and Trump the personal businessman.
“The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed journalists when pressed on attendee transparency.
The management declined to unencumber a visitor checklist. But blockchain knowledge — and a patchwork of visitor footage — inform a part of the tale.
A Bloomberg News research discovered that every one however six of the highest 25 wallets used overseas exchanges, ostensibly off-limits to U.S. customers. More than part of the highest 220 wallets had been connected to identical offshore platforms.
One Nasdaq-listed penny inventory, Freight Technologies, disclosed in an SEC submitting that it spent $2 million on Trump’s token to push U.S.-Mexico industry coverage. It did not make the lower for the dinner — completing 250th.
Since its January debut, the $TRUMP coin has generated greater than $324 million in buying and selling charges. Roughly 80% of the $TRUMP token provide is managed by way of the Trump Organization and associates, in keeping with the mission’s web site.
WLFI, the Trump’s parallel token, has offered $550 million in two token gross sales.

Still, White House AI & crypto czar David Sacks remained bullish on “significant bipartisan support” for stablecoin law.
“We already have over $200 billion in stablecoins — it’s just unregulated,” Sacks informed CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” on Wednesday. “If we provide the legal clarity and legal framework for this, I think we could create trillions of dollars of demand for our Treasuries practically overnight, very quickly.”
“We have every expectation now that it’s going to pass,” added Sacks, despite the fact that he did not solution a query about issues from Democrats that there don’t seem to be enough safeguards in position to stay the president and his circle of relatives from benefiting from law.
While Sacks offered $200 million in crypto-related holdings ahead of taking his White House task, in keeping with a disclosure submitting, Trump and his circle of relatives had been leaning into construction a crypto empire.
The Trumps are monetary backers of World Liberty Financial, which is at the back of the UDS1 stablecoin this is sponsored by way of Treasuries and greenback deposits.
Abu Dhabi’s MGX funding fund lately pledged $2 billion in USD1 to Binance, the sector’s biggest virtual property trade. It’s the corporate’s largest-ever funding made in crypto.
