Winners of Trump's meme coin contest potentially include foreign investors
The race to win tickets to an exclusive crypto dinner gala with President Donald Trump at his private golf club in Virginia on May 22 ended with top 220 holders of the Trump meme coin winning invitations to the black tie gala, the coin's official X account announced Monday.
A "leaderboard" of the top 220 holders appearing on the website did not display the identities of the winners, but it listed numerous wallets that some crypto experts have linked to possible foreign individuals and entities, heightening concerns about potential conflicts of interest arising from the Trump family's businesses and foreign interests.
According to the meme coin's website, the top 25 "VIP holders" were also invited to what it described as an "Exclusive Reception before Dinner" and a "Special VIP Tour."
As the Trump family stands to potentially take in tens of millions of dollars from the coin's transactions and possibly even more from its ownership of the coin, the price of Trump's meme coin has been in constant fluctuation over the past three weeks, with numerous supporters and crypto enthusiasts flocking to purchase the coin to secure a seat at the gala while numerous others sell the coin to profit off the hype.
The coin's price dropped rapidly on Monday as the competition ended, and was priced at $12.59 as of 4 p.m. ET. When the gala competition was first announced last year, the coin's price jumped by more than 55% and later reached a high of nearly $16.42, according to Coinbase.com.
While fluctuations in the Trump coin's price have resulted in massive profits for a fortunate few, hundreds of thousands of investors have reportedly lost money on the coin. According to CNBC's reporting of blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis' data, roughly 764,000 crypto wallets have lost money on Trump meme coin investments, while 58 wallets have made millions from their Trump coin investments.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Asked about the Trump meme coin and concerns over potential conflicts of interest at a press briefing on Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is "abiding by all conflict of interest laws."
"The president has been incredibly transparent with his own personal financial obligation throughout the years," Leavitt said. "I can assure you the president acts with only the interests of the American public in mind, putting our country first and doing what's best for our country. Full stop. That's his intention, and that's what he's focused on."
Although the coin's website had earlier advertised a "Special VIP White House tour" for the top 25 coin holders, as of Monday afternoon it simply said "Special VIP tour," without mentioning the White House. Additionally, the website included a disclaimer saying the tour is being arranged by the Fight Fight Fight LLC, and that the president himself is appearing as a "guest."
In its social media announcement about the conclusion of the contest, the post also announced a "rewards points program" and the awarding of "exclusive NFTs" for the winners.
According to crypto experts, the wallet of the top coin holder -- nicknamed "Sun" and currently holding roughly $16.6 million worth of the Trump meme coin -- is owned by a foreign crypto exchange advised by Chinese billionaire Justin Sun, who recently moderated a panel discussion between Eric Trump and Zack Witkoff at a crypto conference in Dubai, where Witkoff announced the other Trump family crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, had partnered in a $2 billion business deal with an Abu Dahbi state-backed investment firm. Justin Sun did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Sun is also one of World Liberty Financials' biggest investors, purchasing $75 million worth of its coin the day before Trump's inauguration earlier this year. A month after that investment, SEC lawyers under the Trump administration moved to halt an alleged fraud case against Sun, who along with his companies has denied wrongdoing.
The second top holder, a Singaporean entity identified by crypto experts as likely being MemeCore, and nicknamed "MeCo," has been more vocal about their race to secure a VIP ticket -- publicly soliciting followers to send Trump coin to their wallet so they can achieve "#1 on the $TRUMP leaderboard" and "conquer the entire meme space," with the promise of returning the tokens after the event.
In all, the top 220 folders hold a total of 13.7 million Trump coins, valued at nearly $14 million as of 4 p.m. ET Monday, according to Coinbase.com.
Notably, 17 out of the top 220 coin holders on the leaderboard, including one in the top 25, appeared to hold zero Trump coin as of Monday afternoon -- possibly meaning that they sold their holdings before the contest ended.
Experts say this is possible because the top 220 holders were chosen based on "time weighted holdings," which were calculated based on "both the amount and duration" of one's holdings from April 23 through May 12. "The longer you hold, the higher your weighted score becomes," the website says.
It's not clear if the zero Trump coin holders will get invited to the event.
