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The top 220 holders of US President Donald Trump\u2019s memecoin met yesterday at the president\u2019s golf course in Virginia for an exclusive dinner and purported meet-and-greet.<\/p>\n
Attendees spent<\/a> a grand total of $148 million for an \u201cultra-exclusive VIP reception with the president,\u201d which crypto industry advocates and critics alike saw as a potential opportunity to discuss crypto policy with the president.\u00a0<\/p>\n The crowd contained a number of foreign crypto executives and influencers who otherwise would not have access to the US president, raising questions around corruption and foreign influence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Concerns were further augmented when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to release a list of attendees, stating that the event was a private affair outside of Trump\u2019s presidential duties.<\/p>\n However, some attendees spoke to the press or took to social media to talk about the dinner. Here are just a few:<\/p>\n Tron founder Justin Sun was the largest TRUMP tokenholder at the gala, which was reportedly enough to earn him a special watch, presented in a special ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sun\u2019s presence at the event was particularly controversial. Last year, he faced a lawsuit<\/a> brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged \u201corchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and unlawful touting of crypto asset securities.\u201d<\/p>\n The SEC asked for a reprieve in late February, just over a month since Trump\u2019s inauguration and the subsequent 180 in federal agencies\u2019 approach toward regulating crypto.\u00a0<\/p>\n Outside the crypto dinner, Sun posted<\/a> on May 21 that he would be spending a week in Washington, DC to have \u201cmeaningful conversations that will help shape the next chapter of blockchain\u2019s future\u201d in the United States.<\/p>\n Kain Warwick, founder of crypto exchange operator iFinex, told<\/a> The New York Times on May 12 that he was attending the event after stocking up on enough TRUMP to break the top 25 investors on the leaderboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Warwick said he wanted to have a shot at meeting the president, or someone on his team, to talk crypto \u2014 specifically decentralized finance (DeFi), which is getting less attention in the current crop of crypto bills circulating the US Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you assume Trump and 10 people within the Trump team are there, now you\u2019ve got a one in 15 shot of having a conversation with one of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Vincent Liu, chief investment officer of crypto trading, VC and market-making firm Kronos Research, attended the event, posting pictures of the menu and Trump\u2019s brief speech.<\/p>\n Liu wrote, \u201cSimply by holding the Trump token, individuals have an unprecedented opportunity to meet the President of the United States.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He had previously told Cointelegraph<\/a>, \u201cThe decision to acquire the [TRUMP] token was not political. It was based on identifying early momentum, cultural relevance and potential market catalysts.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>US lawmaker introduces anti-corruption bill ahead of Trump’s dinner<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n His firm stated<\/a> that \u201calpha\u201d \u2014 i.e., exclusive or difficult-to-obtain information that could move markets \u2014 was \u201con the menu.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lamar Odom<\/strong><\/p>\n Also in attendance was two-time National Basketball Association champion Lamar Odom. While many other crypto entrepreneurs in the audience were focused on policy, Odom used news of his attendance to plug his own memecoin, ODOM.<\/p>\n Odom launched his memecoin less than a week before the dinner on May 14. The anti-addiction-themed memecoin (Odom had a public battle with substance addiction) is issued on the Solana blockchain.<\/p>\n The coin itself had a 20% \u201cTrump Dinner Program\u201d staking scheme, where TRUMP holders could stake their coins with Odom\u2019s project, ostensibly to enable him to attend the dinner event, and receive ODOM airdrops in return. Odom himself will hold 5% of all ODOM.<\/p>\n CEO of Seoul- and Tokyo-based cryptocurrency management firm Hyperithm, Sangrok Oh was<\/a> the 13th-largest TRUMP holder with a wallet containing over $3 million worth of the token, according to the Straits Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n Oh told The New York Times that he had arrived<\/a> with a batch of red \u201cMake Crypto Great Again\u201d hats to give away at the dinner and expected to speak directly with the president. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a fund-raiser […] And he\u2019ll always be good to his sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh has been critical of the slow regulatory progress for crypto in the countries where his company operates.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to crypto execs and sports stars, the event also noted a few anonymous or pseudonymous crypto traders and entrepreneurs in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among them was<\/a> \u201cIce,\u201d co-founder of the Singaporean crypto company MemeCore. Their company\u2019s chief business development officer, Cherry Hsu, told<\/a> Sherwood News that Trump\u2019s rise \u201crepresents the power of memes to influence culture, perception, and movements \u2014 principles that align with MemeCore\u2019s vision of a decentralized, community-driven future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOgle,\u201d a cybersecurity adviser to Trump\u2019s own World Liberty Financial crypto enterprise, as well as the pseudonymous co-founder of blockchain ecosystem Glue, also attended. Ogle said they were going out of curiosity, more than anything, and did not endorse Trump personally. \u201cI\u2019m hoping it\u2019ll be fun \u2014 and hoping they\u2019ll serve McDonald\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Another anonymous attendee was \u201cCryptoo Bear,\u201d a crypto trader and occasional news reporter who posts primarily in Japanese. Cryptoo Bear made no political statements about the event, mainly posting about the swag and the food. They did say they were promised a photo op with the president, but it didn\u2019t pan out.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Outside the country club, US senators and former staffers attended the event as part of a protest.<\/p>\n Bloomberg reported<\/a> that protestors shouted \u201cShame!\u201d and \u201cI hope you choke on your dinner!\u201d at attendees. Critics of the event widely consider it to be a glaring example of corruption in Washington and within the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, joined the protest. \u201cThe spirit of the Constitution was that no one elected would be selling influence to anyone,\u201d he said<\/a>, \u201cbecause it\u2019s to be government by and for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n Ken Papaj, a former Treasury Department official, said, \u201cEvery time there\u2019s a transaction, he gets a transaction fee? Just unconscionable what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n The dinner comes at a pivotal time for the crypto industry in the US, where the industry is pushing hard for Congress to pass friendly regulations. Trump\u2019s ties may complicate matters, however, as lawmakers have introduced anti-corruption bills targeting crypto and politicians<\/a>.<\/p>\n Senate Democrats are also taking aim at the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act<\/a>, introducing a slew of amendments addressing Trump\u2019s crypto businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\nJustin Sun<\/h2>\n
Kain Warwick<\/h2>\n
Vincent Liu<\/h2>\n
Sangrok Oh<\/h2>\n
Anonymous attendees<\/h2>\n
Dinner \u201cguests\u201d across the picket line<\/h2>\n