Three days before the inauguration, Trump has launched a memecoin that has since risen more than 10,000%
He did so after inviting the Crypto Industry to a black tie event in DC
Here’s my theory on $TRUMP, which is almost diabolical, but totally something Trump is capable of 🧵
First, the backstory: Trump is coming into office following an intensely anti-crypto administration
Trump’s inner circle has used crypto personally to make millions in short order
He’s launched multiple NFT collections over the last few years using a company called CIC Digital
The crypto industry is desperate for change. Companies donated HEAVILY to the Trump campaign
In fact, the crypto industry do rates more money to campaigns this year than basically any other industry in the US
So, fitting that an invite-only Crypto celebration might come about
But right when this party is raging and attended by everyone in the Trump circle, Trump launches the $TRUMP memecoin
It immediately explodes to $15 billion
From sources there, it sounds like no advance mention was made. No one was told about it
Imagine the mind F—
This ball was the invite of all invites in crypto. To be there would have you feeling like you made it — like you’re in Trump’s inner circle
Only for him to turn around and launch the fastest-ever memecoin to hit $15 B
And you didn’t know about it
Literally Snoop Dogg was there
Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary
Speaker Johnson
Vivek
Don Jr.
And all these crypto industry execs. Packed in a room to kiss the ring.
And they aren’t even on the inside.
The end result: The biggest power play you’ve ever seen
Trump has now shown the entire crypto world what he can do without them
All while they were together in the most exclusive room — somehow still on the outside
It shows everyone that the only inner circle that matters in crypto now is his inner circle
Think about that.
This is all happening while the Trumps are also building their DeFi project World Liberty
The platform is picking and choosing which cryptos will be winners and losers as we speak, and they can front-run as much as they want and absolutely print cash
I’m not saying Trump just used everyone in crypto by throwing a black tie event in DC while simultaneously launching a memecoin without them, but that’s exactly what he did
This industry is his industry now, whether they are aware of it or not
It’s *usually* illegal for anyone in government to profit from their office, but Trump is capitalizing on a new way to sell influence
If you follow the money, the $TRUMP memecoin looks like a head fake
THIS is the real Trump honeypot you can get in on (but probably shouldn’t)🧵
First, the obvious: As Rob Blagojevich learned, directly auctioning off an office will land you in prison
But what if you were less obvious about it?
Here's my theory on how President Trump is doing it with crypto (which he confirmed by re-tweeting) ⤵️
Trump, Eric, Don Jr., and even Barron are currently overseeing the build out of one of the largest projects in crypto
The DeFi platform, @worldlibertyfi has already raised close to half a billion dollars via a token sale and outside investors — including foreign nationals
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce was just tapped to run the crypto task force at the SEC and that's so insanely bullish
When I interviewed her last month, she predicted three things would happen under a pro-crypto SEC
This was the first, the others are even better for crypto🧵
First off, the SEC has been regulating by enforcement with lawsuits based on the fact nobody knows the rules / how to be compliant
Today's announcement to set up a task force to finally establish clear rules confirms the "day one" changes she predicted
Commissioner Peirce is known as "crypto mom" because she understands the benefits of the tech
Her other hope was that she could work with builders to free the industry of fears the SEC would hit them with enforcement actions so they could build freely
There is a very important reason why the Trumps are launching $TRUMP and now $MELANIA so fast before the inauguration
And whether you love Trump or hate Trump, the fact is that waiting another day could've opened him up to Constitutional violations & impeachment (again) 🧵
As laid out in the Constitution, no President is allowed to abuse his office to enrich himself
Specifically, the Emoluments Clause prevents the president from receiving profits/gains from foreign governments
NEW: Terra Founder Do Kwon is now facing a maximum penalty of 130 years in prison after being extradited to the US
He appeared in US court for the first time to face extensive fraud charges that could impact all of crypto
Here's what happens next 🧵⬇️
The criminal charges detailed in the DOJ's 79-page indictment include new allegations that were not part of the SEC's civil trial
The criminal case goes into further detail as the DOJ must show Do Kwon acted with criminal intent
Prosecutors even cited my old interviews with Do:
The reason why this case is more interesting than the SBF/FTX case is because it more directly applies to crypto projects and founders experimenting in DeFi
We covered the difference between failure & fraud in our @coinage_media mini-doc with Do Kwon:
It was surreal to be back in court for Do Kwon's trial, just a few floors from where SBF was convicted
I was the first to interview Do after Terra's collapse, and went to SBF's home right before his trial. Here's why these cases are both extremely different and eerily similar 🧵
For starters, this is a civil fraud case against Do Kwon and Terraform Labs. There is no jail time associated with this ruling (though the DOJ was lingering around the courtroom today)
At the heart of the case is exactly what we explored in our interview — Failure vs. Fraud
The SEC has built their case around the climax of our piece on Terra's collapse. As we presented it more than a year ago, this was always going to come down to: