Trump's meme coin millionaires
I talked to the anonymous crypto moguls capitalizing on "the most corrupt thing a president has ever done."
Full story: Meet ‘Ice,’ ‘Ogle’ and other crypto millionaires who bought a night with Trump
When the creators of President Donald Trump’s meme coin announced last month that its top 220 buyers could join him for dinner at his private golf club outside Washington, the mostly anonymous investors of the Singapore-based crypto collective MemeCore raced to capitalize on the opportunity.
The group of roughly 60 members, many of whom live in China and Southeast Asia, quickly amassed $18 million worth of the coin, securing a seat at Trump’s dinner party next week — and contributing a share of millions of dollars in crypto transaction fees the Trump venture has collected since the contest was announced.
The collective intends to send a co-founder to the dinner with hopes of shaping Trump’s views on their industry, MemeCore chief business development officer Cherry Hsu said in an interview, identifying the co-founder only by his crypto nickname “Ice.”
“Trump is a very iconic meme character,” Hsu said, likening him to a viral internet legend. She said the members have joked that they hope the dinner includes Big Macs, famously from the president’s preferred fast-food chain.
The gala dinner at the Trump National Golf Club on Thursday will link the president to an unusual collection of deep-pocketed crypto players from around the world, some of whom have told The Washington Post they hope to influence his views on how their industry is regulated or otherwise capitalize on the presidential access.
The identities of the vast majority of the coin holders who were invited to the dinner after the contest ended Monday remain unknown to the public, with many using untraceable crypto wallets fueled by money from unknown sources. And when they meet the president, they may be able to stay that way, with one crypto investor saying he was told by the event’s organizers that no cameras or journalists would be allowed in the room.
More crypto reporting:
- May 21: I explained all this in podcast form on Post Reports: The cryptocurrency that buys access to Trump.
- May 8: Small-time Trump coin buyers have seen their investments collapse
- April 24: How Trump team turned a dinner invite into a crypto boon worth millions
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