Crypto billionaire Justin Solar says he is the most important proprietor of Trump’s meme coin, will attend dinner with president
The biggest holder of President Trump’s cryptocurrency token is entrepreneur Justin Solar, the billionaire revealed Tuesday — incomes him an invitation to a controversial dinner this week hosted by Mr. Trump for his meme coin’s greatest backers.
Solar introduced he’ll attend Thursday night’s dinner at Mr. Trump’s D.C.-area golf membership — which is open to the 220 largest holders of the $TRUMP meme coin — in a put up on X, describing himself because the president’s “TOP fan.”
“As the highest holder of $TRUMP, I am excited to attach with everybody, speak crypto, and talk about the way forward for our trade,” wrote Solar, who based the Tron blockchain and confronted a securities lawsuit from Biden-era federal regulators.
The meme coin’s web site lists the most important holder of $TRUMP as someone with the username “Solar” who owns about 1.4 million tokens — value round $19 million at Tuesday’s buying and selling value.
Along with the dinner for the highest 220 holders of $TRUMP, the president can be internet hosting an “Unique Reception” at his membership in Northern Virginia for the token’s prime 25 holders. Solar didn’t instantly reply when requested by CBS Information if he would attend the smaller reception.
What’s the $TRUMP meme coin — and why is it controversial?
The meme coin was launched in January, days earlier than Mr. Trump’s inauguration. An affiliate of the Trump group and a agency referred to as Combat Combat Combat LLC management 80% of the coin’s whole provide.
Meme cash are a sort of cryptocurrency whose worth is pushed principally by on-line buzz, particularly on social media. They sometimes don’t have intrinsic worth and aren’t used for transactions. Like many meme cash, $TRUMP is thought for erratic value shifts: Its value peaked at round $75 shortly after its launch, however plummeted to below $8 by early April.
However late final month, the worth surged after the dinner with Mr. Trump was introduced. Patrons spent greater than $140 million to purchase the $TRUMP cash in hopes of securing an invite to the occasion, in response to information analytics agency Inca Digital.
Mr. Trump beforehand vowed on social media to “make sure that the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.” The president and his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are backing the crypto alternate World Liberty Monetary, and crypto makes up some $2.9 billion of Mr. Trump’s web value in response to a latest report.
Eric Trump in January referred to as the $TRUMP coin “the most popular digital meme on earth.”
The $TRUMP personal dinner advertising and marketing promotion — and the president’s hyperlinks to World Liberty — have raised considerations amongst authorities watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers about potential conflicts of curiosity.
The Senate on Monday superior a invoice, dubbed the GENIUS Act, that will regulate so-called stablecoins — a sort of cryptocurrency linked to the worth of an asset just like the U.S. greenback or gold. The invoice confronted some pushback from Democrats who pushed for anti-corruption guidelines, usually citing Mr. Trump’s crypto holdings.
“How handy: the day after the Senate advances the GENIUS Act, Justin Solar — a significant investor within the Trump household crypto enterprise — publicizes he is getting a personal dinner because the President’s prime crypto purchaser,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the highest Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, stated in an announcement.
The White Home has dismissed criticism that Mr. Trump’s help for the crypto sector represents a battle of curiosity, noting his property are held in a belief managed by his youngsters.
“The President is working to safe GOOD offers for the American folks, not for himself. President Trump solely acts in the very best pursuits of the American public – which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this workplace, regardless of years of lies and false accusations in opposition to him and his companies from the pretend information media,” White Home spokesperson Anna Kelly stated in an announcement Tuesday.
Who’s Justin Solar?
Solar has a web value of $8.5 billion, in response to Forbes. He is greatest identified for the Tron blockchain — and for paying $6.2 million at public sale for a banana that artist Maurizio Cattelan duct-taped to a wall, which Solar promptly ate as a part of a “distinctive inventive expertise.”
Solar says his agency has additionally invested tens of thousands and thousands within the Trump-linked World Liberty Monetary.
He was sued by the Biden-era Securities and Trade Fee for allegedly “fraudulently manipulating the secondary market” for a crypto token created by his firm. The go well with additionally accused his agency of paying celebrities like Lindsey Lohan and Jake Paul to advertise the token “with out disclosing their compensation.” Solar’s attorneys have pushed again on the go well with.
However earlier this 12 months, the SEC and Solar agreed to pause the lawsuit to “discover a possible decision.” The halt was a part of a broader shift by the Trump administration to ease cryptocurrency enforcement.
