TRUMP buyer Morten Christensen and four friends received invitations to a gala dinner with US President Donald Trump, spending about $1200 per seat. This was reported by Bloomberg . To be on the top 220 holders list, you needed to have about $54,500 in tokens over the past three weeks, but Christensen and his friends found a way to splurge just on trading commissions. They would buy the right amount of TRUMP and open a short for the same amount. After the final guest list was announced, users sold tokens and closed short positions. ”We figured it wouldn't cost much to participate in the competition, we gave it a shot and did it,” Christensen noted. The trader himself first bought tokens in January, an hour after the announcement. In his own words, the same weekend he sold assets 30 times more expensive. ”Then he announced the dinner, at first I ignored it, I thought the competition would be too tough. Then eight days before the end I saw the leaderboard. It wasn't that expensive, maybe $60,000 or $70,000,” the trader added. Friends wrote a special program that tracked the portfolios of potential guests and predicted the amount of tokens needed to get on the list. According to Christensen, when the big players entered the contest, the five traders decided to buy TRUMP to secure their positions; At the time the winners were announced, the user held about $250,000 in the ”presidential meme coin.” He ranked #188 under the nickname Aird. The trader has already received the notification, provided the necessary data for checks and booked the plane tickets. Trump's crypto projects to be vetted for conflicts of interest Democrats left a joint hearing on digital assets in the US Congress, accusing Republicans of ignoring Donald Trump's conflict of interest. The reason was the president's ties to the crypto industry, including issuing the meme coin Trump and lobbying for projects through his family. Democrats vs. Republicans House Financial Services Committee Vice Chair Maxine Waters said Republicans are ”legitimizing corruption” by refusing to discuss Trump's impact on regulation. In response, Republicans used a loophole in the rules to convert the hearing into a roundtable discussion. Brian Steil, chairman of the Digital Assets Subcommittee, said the discussion would continue without Democrats. Republican French Hill urged his colleagues to focus on creating a regulatory framework for the crypto market, but did not respond to claims about Trump's ties to the industry. He said Democrats had ”politicized” the process. Earlier, Democrats declared that they would not support the GENIUS Act steblecoin bill unless tough anti-money laundering rules and restrictions on foreign issuers were added. ”Trump has launched his own stablecoin - this is unacceptable. We've been working on regulation for three years, and now we're being rushed through, ignoring key risks,” Waters emphasized. At issue is the USD1 stablecoin launched by the DeFi project of the Trump family World Liberty Financial (WLFI). MEME Act In parallel, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has proposed legislation to prohibit US federal officials, including Trump, from promoting meme-coins for personal gain. The document, called the MEME Act , is intended to curb the use of official position to enrich oneself through digital assets or securities. The occasion was TRUMP, launched before Trump's inauguration on the Solana blockchain. Murphy called the token ”an example of corruption.” ”Trump has turned the crypto market into a personal Venmo account where foreign oligarchs transfer millions for political favors.” Congressman Sam Liccardo (Democrat from California) supported the MEME Act: ”Republicans are silent while Trump turns the White House into a tool for personal enrichment.” Financial policy expert Amanda Fisher said that cryptocurrencies are often used for fraud. Officials should not be allowed to profit from them, she emphasized. Trump's cryptocurrencies check Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal sent requests to World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and Fight Fight Fight LLC to disclose details of Trump's involvement in the projects. Politico reported that the Senate investigations committee is launching a probe into possible conflicts of interest and legislative violations. In a letter to Fight Fight Fight LLC, which launched TRUMP, Blumenthal pointed to the token's price spikes and suggested that a narrow range of individuals capitalized on its launch. He also criticized Dinner with Trump: in his opinion, the promotion was launched to stimulate token sales after a drop in interest. ”Trump's ties to the TRUMP token and attempts to use the White House to increase its value is an unprecedented scheme to access power for money,” the senator said. Blumenthal said in a statement to WLFI that the Trump family has received ”significant financial benefits” from the project and that cooperating with foreign investors poses a national security risk. Companies must provide documents on the ownership structure, financial flows and measures to prevent conflicts of interest until July 27.
