'I have never seen such open corruption': Trump's crypto deals and loosening of rules shock observers [View all]

‘I have never seen such open corruption’: Trump’s crypto deals and loosening of rules shock observers
After courtship with crypto industry, president now profits immensely from a sector he once said ‘seems like a scam’
‘This is the looting of America’: Trump and Co’s extraordinary conflicts of interest in his second term
Peter Stone in Washington DC
Tue 17 Jun 2025 07.00 EDT


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Memecoins are crypto tokens that are often based on online jokes but have no inherent value. They often prove risky investments as their prices can fluctuate wildly. The $Trump memecoin was launched days before Trump’s presidential inauguration, spurring a surge of buyers and yielding tens of millions of dollars for Trump and some partners.

Trump’s private events on 22 May to reward the top purchasers of $Trump have sparked strong criticism of the president from ethics watchdogs, ex-prosecutors and scholars for exploiting his office for personal gain in unprecedented ways. But they fit in a broader pattern of how Trump has exploited the power and lure of his office to enrich himself and some top allies via cryptocurrencies.



“Self-enrichment is exactly what the founders feared most in a leader – that’s why they put two separate prohibitions on self-benefit into the constitution,” said former federal prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig. “Trump’s profiting from his presidential memecoin is a textbook example of what the framers wanted to avoid.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/17/trump-crypto-memecoin-corruption