Dem
47
GOP
53
There was a time when we saw article after article that argued that crypto is a serious investment opportunity, with a serious future as a medium of exchange. We don't see those articles anymore, and we suspect that Donald Trump deserves at least some of the credit/blame.
One of the griftiest grifts of his second presidential term was the $TRUMP cryptocurrency. Even if you believe that (some) crypto is legitimate as a holder of value, and a form of currency, $TRUMP is not in that category. It's a meme coin, which means it makes no claims to having any value, and is basically a high-priced souvenir, like those flattened pennies you get at tourist destinations. A United States president should not be using their office to promote shady business ventures, particularly when those ventures are in industries that the U.S. government is supposed to regulate. It makes it all the worse that while people who were buying one or two $TRUMP coins were just buying a souvenir, people who were buying millions of them were either buying access or were effectively tendering a bribe.
In the past few months, the value of $TRUMP coins has cratered. At one point, they had a value of $75 each, thus reminding everyone of the old aphorism that a fool and his money are soon parted. This week, they are down to about $2.75 each, which is a decline of 96%. While Trump and his family did make some real money off the scheme, it's nowhere near the billions that once had stars in the President's eyes. Meanwhile, $TRUMP will soon join Trump vodka, Trump University, the Trump Taj Majal, Trump Airlines, Trump steaks, etc. on the list of business failures for the so-called master of the art of the deal.
That said, the Trumps are trying to get one last grifty gasp out of $TRUMP before it goes the way of the dodo, the carrier pigeon, and Trump's hairline. So, the Trump Organization is staging an event at Mar-a-Lago on April 25 that is advertised as "THE MOST EXCLUSIVE CRYPTO & BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN THE WORLD." All you have to do to score an invite is be among the 297 largest holders of $TRUMP coins as of an as yet undecided cutoff date. Or, if you don't want to risk missing the cutoff, you can be "guaranteed direct access" by committing to buy a mere $5 million in $TRUMP coins.
It's super grifty, but it actually gets worse. The promotional materials overwhelmingly suggest that the Trump who will host the gathering, and who will speak at the "conference" and who will be available to the spenders of $5 million is Donald. But he has not committed to the event, and he is scheduled to be in Washington that day to attend the White House Press Correspondents' dinner. So, in the fine print, it says that the Trump that attendees get might actually be Eric, or Don Jr., or possibly even Barron.
There is obviously a lot of schadenfreude to go around here. We're just not sure who is worthy of more of it, the fellow whose grift is going belly up as we speak, or the folks who are going to drop some serious coin, only to end up eating chicken wings with Barron Trump. Tough call! (Z)