Analysis: Trump's two cryptocurrency themed dinners in May raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest

Golden Finance reports that US President Donald Trump is retaliating against criticism of his and his family's association with cryptocurrency. On May 4th, Trump posted on X platform that he plans to hold a dinner in Washington at the end of this month targeting the main supporters of Trump's official meme coin. Previously, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the Trump family's alleged "improper" cryptocurrency trading, including the UAE's investment in the Trump related stablecoin USD1. In late April, Warren and several other lawmakers (including California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff) called on federal officials to pay attention to the bribery and corruption risks that Trump's meme may bring. The Financial Services Commission and the Agriculture Commission announced last week that they will hold a joint hearing on market structure issues and released the first relevant bill text on Monday, which includes how the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will regulate cryptocurrencies. However, the two cryptocurrency themed dinners planned by Trump in May have sparked new controversy. One of the events is called the "Cryptocurrency and Artificial Intelligence Innovator Dinner", hosted by MAGA Inc., a super political action committee that supports Trump, with an entrance fee of up to $1.5 million. The other dinner is open to the top 220 investors of Trump's memes, and admission will be obtained through bidding. Critics point out that Trump's mixing of personal interests with public policy through these activities may violate the "compensation clause" in the Constitution, which prohibits the president from accepting gifts or economic compensation from domestic or foreign governments or their agents. In addition, the Trump family profits from their cryptocurrency projects, and the Trump administration's relatively lenient regulatory attitude towards cryptocurrencies further exacerbates concerns about conflicts of interest.