Winners of Trump's meme coin contest potentially include foreign investors

[ad_1] The race to win tickets to an unique crypto dinner gala with President Donald Trump at his non-public golf membership in Virginia on Might 22 ended with high 220 holders of the Trump meme coin successful invites to the black tie gala, the coin's official X account introduced Monday.

A "leaderboard" of the highest 220 holders showing on the web site didn't show the identities of the winners, however it listed quite a few wallets that some crypto consultants have linked to attainable overseas people and entities, heightening considerations about potential conflicts of curiosity arising from the Trump household's companies and overseas pursuits.

In accordance with the meme coin's web site, the highest 25 "VIP holders" have been additionally invited to what it described as an "Unique Reception earlier than Dinner" and a "Particular VIP Tour."

Because the Trump household stands to doubtlessly soak up tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from the coin's transactions and presumably much more from its possession of the coin, the value of Trump's meme coin has been in fixed fluctuation over the previous three weeks, with quite a few supporters and crypto fans flocking to buy the coin to safe a seat on the gala whereas quite a few others promote the coin to revenue off the hype.

The coin's worth dropped quickly on Monday because the competitors ended, and was priced at $12.59 as of 4 p.m. ET. When the gala competitors was first introduced final yr, the coin's worth jumped by greater than 55% and later reached a excessive of practically $16.42, in response to Coinbase.com.

Whereas fluctuations within the Trump coin's worth have resulted in large earnings for a lucky few, a whole bunch of hundreds of buyers have reportedly misplaced cash on the coin. In accordance with CNBC's reporting of blockchain analytics agency Chainalysis' knowledge, roughly 764,000 crypto wallets have misplaced cash on Trump meme coin investments, whereas 58 wallets have made hundreds of thousands from their Trump coin investments.

A White Home spokesperson didn't instantly reply to a request for remark from ABC Information.

President Donald Trump speaks throughout a information convention about prescription drug costs, within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home, Might 12, 2025, in Washington.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Though the coin's web site had earlier marketed a "Particular VIP White Home tour" for the highest 25 coin holders, as of Monday afternoon it merely mentioned "Particular VIP tour," with out mentioning the White Home. Moreover, the web site included a disclaimer saying the tour is being organized by the Battle Battle Battle LLC, and that the president himself is showing as a "visitor."

In its social media announcement in regards to the conclusion of the competition, the put up additionally introduced a "rewards factors program" and the awarding of "unique NFTs" for the winners.

In accordance with crypto consultants, the pockets of the highest coin holder -- nicknamed "Solar" and at the moment holding roughly $16.6 million value of the Trump meme coin -- is owned by a overseas crypto change suggested by Chinese language billionaire Justin Solar, who lately moderated a panel dialogue between Eric Trump and Zack Witkoff at a crypto convention in Dubai, the place Witkoff introduced the opposite Trump household crypto enterprise, World Liberty Monetary, had partnered in a $2 billion enterprise cope with an Abu Dahbi state-backed funding agency. Justin Solar didn't instantly reply to a request for remark from ABC Information.

Solar can also be one among World Liberty Financials' largest buyers, buying $75 million value of its coin the day earlier than Trump's inauguration earlier this yr. A month after that funding, SEC attorneys underneath the Trump administration moved to halt an alleged fraud case in opposition to Solar, who alongside together with his firms has denied wrongdoing.

The second high holder, a Singaporean entity recognized by crypto consultants as probably being MemeCore, and nicknamed "MeCo," has been extra vocal about their race to safe a VIP ticket -- publicly soliciting followers to ship Trump coin to their pockets to allow them to obtain "#1 on the $TRUMP leaderboard" and "conquer all the meme house," with the promise of returning the tokens after the occasion.

In all, the highest 220 folders maintain a complete of 13.7 million Trump cash, valued at practically $14 million as of 4 p.m. ET Monday, in response to Coinbase.com.

Notably, 17 out of the highest 220 coin holders on the leaderboard, together with one within the high 25, appeared to carry zero Trump coin as of Monday afternoon -- presumably that means that they offered their holdings earlier than the competition ended.

Consultants say that is attainable as a result of the highest 220 holders have been chosen primarily based on "time weighted holdings," which have been calculated primarily based on "each the quantity and period" of 1's holdings from April 23 by Might 12. "The longer you maintain, the upper your weighted rating turns into," the web site says.