Senator Elizabeth Warren expressed concern that Donald Trump’s memecoin could generate “the specter of uninhibited and untraceable foreign influence over the US president.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren has requested that the government ethics office and US financial regulators investigate the ethical and legal implications of Donald and Melania Trump’s crypto tokens.
In a letter dated January 22, Warren expressed his profound apprehension regarding the decision of President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to establish two memecoins, TRUMP and MELANIA, which enable them to generate extraordinary profits from his presidency.
Warren, a prominent Democrat in the Senate Banking Committee who is renowned for her skepticism of crypto, stated that the memecoin “has dramatically enriched Trump personally, facilitated the flow of cash to him from the crypto industry, and established a volatile financial asset that enables anyone in the world to speculate on Trump’s political fortunes.”
She also stated that “leaders of hostile nations” have the ability to covertly purchase these memecoins, which “raises the specter of uninhibited and untraceable foreign influence over the President of the United States.”
Days prior to his inauguration on January 20, Trump implemented the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin in an unexpected manner. It reached an all-time peak of over $73 the day after its launch, with a value of over $14.5 billion. However, it has since plummeted by 57% to trade at approximately $32.
On January 19, Melania Trump, her spouse’s wife, introduced her own token, Melania Meme (MELANIA), one day after her husband. It reached a high of $13 before plummeting to $2.60.
Warren stated that the Trump family-controlled Trump Organization and its affiliates possess 80% of the TRUMP memecoin, leaving the remaining 20% of investors to “afford the volatility of the coin’s price.”
The senator also raised concerns about impartial governance, stating that Trump will nominate leaders of agencies that regulate the crypto sector as president, which raises conflict of interest concerns.
People who got the letter were David Huitema, who is the director of the Office of Government Ethics, Mark Uyeda, who is the acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, David Lebryk, who is the acting secretary of the Treasury, and Caroline Pham, who is the acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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