President-elect Donald Trump launched a cryptocurrency token, $TRUMP, on Friday which skyrocketed to a $72 billion market valuation by Sunday morning, raising ethical concerns just days before his inauguration.
Cryptocurrency has increasingly entered mainstream political and financial discourse, and Trump has previously shown interest in the industry.
From selling digital trading cards to attending bitcoin conferences during his campaign, he has cultivated a close relationship with the crypto sector.
Trump's latest venture—a memecoin launched through his company CIC Digital LLC—represents an unprecedented intersection of personal financial interests and public office, Politico reported.
Trump announced the launch of $TRUMP, a cryptocurrency token with no intrinsic real-world value, on Friday night via his social media platforms. The token's value surged overnight, with a fully diluted market capitalization exceeding $72 billion by Sunday morning.
CIC Digital LLC, a Trump-owned company, controls 80% of the token's supply, theoretically making Trump's personal stake worth over $57 billion.
Crypto executives celebrated the launch during a sold-out unofficial inaugural ball, where Trump's incoming crypto czar, David Sacks, declared the end of regulatory "reign of terror" against digital assets.
Meanwhile, the new president-elect is pushing policies that could drastically benefit the crypto industry, including regulatory overhauls and government bitcoin stockpiling.
The launch has drawn criticism from ethics watchdogs and industry insiders alike. Concerns center on the potential for Trump to financially benefit from policy changes his administration is set to enact, with some critics likening the situation to blatant conflicts of interest.
Ethics groups are calling for stronger scrutiny, arguing that a sitting president profiting from a business venture raises questions of transparency and accountability.
Industry figures like Anthony Scaramucci have also warned that this move could harm the crypto sector's credibility.
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