Despite the uproar from the Democratic Party, the Trump family's path to wealth accumulation is unlikely to come to a halt anytime soon.
Written by: Tuo Luo Finance
After nearly a month of anticipation in the market, the Trump dinner has finally taken place.
On May 22, the event hosted by MEME Trump, touted as "the most exclusive invitation in the world," finally kicked off. The top 220 holders were able to attend the luxurious dinner at Trump Golf Club, crafted from cash capabilities.
Before the dinner, there were rankings established, power gatherings held, and even watches used for identity marketing. This series of operations allowed Trump to continue rising, although the market had at one point doubted whether he would actually attend. Fortunately, the well-known "talking big" king did not disappoint, making a personal appearance and delivering a speech.
As usual, Trump's arrival was merely a formality. Interestingly, although it was a local dinner in the U.S., the Chinese community seemed to have sponsored a meal of dumplings, allowing Trump to experience the true influence of the Chinese in the crypto space.
Rewinding to April, Trump had been quiet for a long time, as the anticipated unlocking of 40 million tokens faced a sell-off, dropping to around $7. Just as the data was about to confirm the president's next move to cut the wheat, Trump finally remembered his MEME coin. In the early hours of April 24, the TRUMP official website announced the launch of a dinner event for holders, stating that on May 22, a banquet would be held at Trump Golf Club in Washington, inviting the top 220 holders. Among them, the top 25 holders would not only attend the dinner but also be invited to an exclusive reception beforehand to dine face-to-face with Trump. To intensify competition, Trump also established a leaderboard for holders and later generously gifted Trump-branded watches to the top five holders, clearly placing social identity front and center.
Since both the amount held and the duration of holding would be considered, whales and large holders rushed to buy Trump tokens. After nearly a month of competition, the participants for this dinner were finally determined. According to data from blockchain analysis firm Nansen cited by NBC News, the 220 invited guests collectively invested up to $394 million in the $TRUMP token, averaging about $1.78 million per person. From the holder leaderboard, the top holder possessed 1.43 million tokens, while the second held 1.39 million.
On May 22, the dinner commenced. The choice of venue was quite deliberate, held at Trump’s stronghold, the Trump National Golf Club located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Following high confidentiality requirements, media were not allowed to enter the venue, and live broadcasting or recording devices were strictly prohibited. However, perhaps as a promotional gimmick, attendees were allowed to bring their phones.
Fortunately, with phones allowed, the powerful social media presence helped bring the event to light. The schedule included a reception for the top 25 holders at 5 PM, followed by the main dinner starting at 6 PM, which lasted for three and a half hours.
The participants were particularly interesting, with the top holder, Sun Yuchen, having already teased his attendance on social media, having spent about $39.4 million to claim the top spot. Besides Sun Yuchen, the New York Times revealed that other attendees included Washington lawyer Elliot Berke, Wintermute founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy, Delphi Digital co-founders Anil Lulla and Yan Liberman, Shanghai cryptocurrency investor Cheng Lu, CTS International founder Stephen Dworkin, Hyperithm CEO Sangrok Oh and executive Charles Ayres, Origin co-founder Matthew Liu, conservative media figure Caitlin Sinclair, former NBA star Lamar Odom, Acheron Trading founder Wesley Pryor, Magic Eden co-founder and CEO Jack Tan Lu, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick, and Kronos Research CEO Vincent Liu.
Overall, the majority were well-known figures in the crypto space or at least participants, many of whom were previous notable donors to Trump, reflecting that this dinner was essentially a showcase of power climbing within the crypto industry. Interestingly, insiders revealed that about 72% of the invitees were from outside the U.S., particularly a significant number of Chinese attendees, which seemed to give Trump a bit of a shock.
Trump arrived at the dinner via military helicopter directly from the White House and delivered a speech lasting about half an hour. The content of the speech was unoriginal, with the usual disparagement of Biden and self-promotion, while also stating to supporters that Biden had previously stifled the crypto industry, but now the U.S. would become the global crypto capital, asserting, "America is leading in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and other fields, and we will maintain this position."
Afterward, Trump hurriedly left by helicopter, leaving the 220 holders to enjoy the extravagant dinner funded by their investments. Although the dinner was expensive, the menu was not particularly luxurious, featuring a choice between garden lettuce salad, filet mignon or pan-seared halibut, accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, with dessert being molten chocolate cake. At a glance, it seemed to be at the level of ordinary Western cuisine. Participants on X platform complained, "Not only was the presentation poor, but the portions were small," even going so far as to say it was worse than a "village banquet," which was quite amusing.
Once Trump left, the focus naturally shifted to the top holder—Sun Yuchen. Sun also delivered a speech at the dinner, thanking Trump, stating, "Thank you for everything the Trump administration has done for our industry. Not long ago, crypto people were constantly oppressed, and we could not hold such a grand event in Washington, gathering all practitioners in the U.S. to build the crypto industry together. This is the best thing I can think of. If I can come to the U.S., then everyone can come."
The subsequent gathering turned into a social media photo opportunity, effectively transforming the Trump dinner into a Sun Yuchen dinner. From the dinner itself, the process largely adhered to the project announcement, although vague promotions were not without traces. A typical example is that the Trump website initially clearly stated that the top 25 TRUMP holders could enjoy a "special VIP White House tour," but later quietly removed the specific mention of the White House, replacing it with the vague term "VIP tour."
Overall, Trump showed up, the dinner was held, and the gathering took place, which can still be considered credible. From a market perspective, considering Trump's hasty arrival and departure along with his speech lacking substantive meaning, the dinner had no promotional effect and could only be discussed in gossip terms. In this context, Trump MEME undoubtedly benefited significantly, as large holders pooled resources to stabilize the price fluctuations during the large unlock, rising from a low of $7.5 to $16, currently reported at $12.9, an increase of over 70% within a month and a half.
Delving deeper, Trump himself is undoubtedly the true winner behind the scenes. In essence, the entire event was an alternative gathering of political donors. While it appeared to revolve around Trump participating in token investments at his own risk, it was actually a bet on Trump, with outsiders hoping to leverage the president to gain entry into the industry, while for those more entrenched in the industry, it was a blatant form of political bribery and exchange of interests.
Taking Sun Yuchen as an example, the U.S. has a historical record of investigations against him dating back four years. In 2021, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office sought information from Sun and continued to collect evidence at least until 2023. In 2023, the U.S. SEC charged him with fraudulently manipulating the market for Tron’s TRX token. As a result, Sun had avoided traveling to the U.S. for many years. However, everything changed after Trump took office, and Sun spent $75 million to purchase the Trump family's WIFL, transforming into a corporate advisor for the project, and at this event, he again spent heavily to become the "top holder," meeting the president face-to-face. The effects were quite significant.
In February of this year, the SEC suspended its investigation into Sun, and in April, Canary even submitted the first TRON ETF to the SEC, stating, "If he can come to the U.S., it represents that everyone can come to the U.S." Furthermore, choosing the crypto industry was a clever move by Trump. Beyond the surface-level efficient fundraising route based on MEME coins, this industry has its own uniqueness. Not recognized by the mainstream yet holding vast amounts of capital, it has a sense of naive wealth, meaning that one can easily influence the situation and enhance personal influence with just a few words, while also fully satisfying Trump's identity political needs.
It is worth mentioning that even though the holders possess significant wealth, under the long-term suppression of the so-called "unpresentable gray industry," there is a strong urgency to integrate into high society and connect with political giants for personal protection and identity recognition. In this context, such dinners are tailor-made for the crypto community. Nevertheless, not everyone was satisfied with this dinner. Outside the dinner, over 100 people gathered to protest, shouting "Shame" at the arriving guests. Protesters stated that this was Trump's cryptocurrency corruption, openly pricing democracy. Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley even showed up to support, vocally declaring that this dinner was "the peak of corruption."
The situation is still evolving. On May 24, 35 U.S. House representatives jointly sent a letter to the Department of Justice, requesting an investigation into Trump's private TRUMP dinner, accusing it of potentially violating the foreign emoluments clause in the Constitution and federal anti-bribery laws. The representatives pointed out that most attendees appeared to be foreign nationals, and such undisclosed contacts could become a channel for foreign governments to influence U.S. policy. The Democrats are simultaneously pushing two pieces of legislation: one to restrict senior government officials and their relatives from engaging with cryptocurrencies, and another to add an amendment targeting the Trump family's associated stablecoin platform in the "GENIUS Act." Legal experts noted that if the Department of Justice determines that the dinner constitutes foreign influence peddling, it could trigger a constitutional lawsuit.
Currently, Trump has not responded to this, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refuted the claims at a press conference, stating, "Any suggestion that the president is using his position for personal gain is pure nonsense." A week prior, at a business forum hosted by the Qatari government, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.'s remarks may have also expressed Trump's stance, stating, "Even completely legal transactions cannot prevent those baseless accusations, so our stance is very clear: we will follow the rules, but we will not forever bind our business."
In conclusion, despite the Democratic Party's uproar, the Trump family's path to wealth accumulation is unlikely to cease anytime soon. In the end, Trump gained a solid financial base, acquiring crypto wealth that is a hundred times easier than real estate business; the crypto industry has moved to the mainstream table, gaining institutional recognition; and the holders have also joined the ranks of "New Money." Why not celebrate?
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