The race to win tickets to an unique crypto dinner gala with President Donald Trump at his non-public golf membership in Virginia on Might 22 ended with prime 220 holders of the Trump meme coin profitable invites to the black tie gala, the coin’s official X account announced Monday.
A “leaderboard” of the highest 220 holders showing on the web site didn’t show the identities of the winners, but it surely listed quite a few wallets that some crypto specialists have linked to attainable international people and entities, heightening considerations about potential conflicts of curiosity arising from the Trump household’s companies and international pursuits.
In keeping with the meme coin’s web site, the highest 25 “VIP holders” had been additionally invited to what it described as an “Unique Reception earlier than Dinner” and a “Particular VIP Tour.”
Because the Trump household stands to probably absorb tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from the coin’s transactions and presumably much more from its possession of the coin, the worth of Trump’s meme coin has been in fixed fluctuation over the previous three weeks, with quite a few supporters and crypto fanatics flocking to buy the coin to safe a seat on the gala whereas quite a few others promote the coin to revenue off the hype.
The coin’s value dropped quickly on Monday because the competitors ended, and was priced at $12.59 as of 4 p.m. ET. When the gala competitors was first introduced final yr, the coin’s value jumped by greater than 55% and later reached a excessive of almost $16.42, based on Coinbase.com.
Whereas fluctuations within the Trump coin’s value have resulted in large earnings for a lucky few, a whole lot of hundreds of buyers have reportedly misplaced cash on the coin. In keeping with CNBC’s reporting of blockchain analytics agency Chainalysis’ data, roughly 764,000 crypto wallets have misplaced cash on Trump meme coin investments, whereas 58 wallets have made hundreds of thousands from their Trump coin investments.
Though the coin’s web site had earlier marketed a “Particular VIP White Home tour” for the highest 25 coin holders, as of Monday afternoon it merely mentioned “Particular VIP tour,” with out mentioning the White Home. Moreover, the web site included a disclaimer saying the tour is being organized by the Combat Combat Combat LLC, and that the president himself is showing as a “visitor.”
President Donald Trump speaks throughout a information convention about prescription drug costs, within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home, Might 12, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
In its social media announcement concerning the conclusion of the competition, the publish additionally introduced a “rewards factors program” and the awarding of “unique NFTs” for the winners.
In keeping with crypto specialists, the pockets of the highest coin holder — nicknamed “Solar” and presently holding roughly $16.6 million price of the Trump meme coin — is owned by a international crypto alternate suggested by Chinese language billionaire Justin Solar, who just lately moderated a panel dialogue between Eric Trump and Zack Witkoff at a crypto convention in Dubai, the place Witkoff introduced the opposite Trump household crypto enterprise, World Liberty Monetary, had partnered in a $2 billion business deal with an Abu Dahbi state-backed funding agency. Justin Solar didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from ABC Information.
Solar can be one in every of World Liberty Financials’ biggest investors, buying $75 million price of its coin the day earlier than Trump’s inauguration earlier this yr. A month after that funding, SEC legal professionals beneath the Trump administration moved to halt an alleged fraud case towards Solar, who alongside along with his corporations has denied wrongdoing.
The second prime holder, a Singaporean entity recognized by crypto specialists as possible being MemeCore, and nicknamed “MeCo,” has been extra vocal about their race to safe a VIP ticket — publicly soliciting followers to ship Trump coin to their pockets to allow them to obtain “#1 on the $TRUMP leaderboard” and “conquer all the meme house,” with the promise of returning the tokens after the occasion.
In all, the highest 220 folders maintain a complete of 13.7 million Trump cash, valued at almost $14 million as of 4 p.m. ET Monday, based on Coinbase.com.
Notably, 17 out of the highest 220 coin holders on the leaderboard, together with one within the prime 25, appeared to carry zero Trump coin as of Monday afternoon — presumably that means that they bought their holdings earlier than the competition ended.
Consultants say that is attainable as a result of the highest 220 holders had been chosen based mostly on “time weighted holdings,” which had been calculated based mostly on “each the quantity and period” of 1’s holdings from April 23 by Might 12. “The longer you maintain, the upper your weighted rating turns into,” the web site says.
It is not clear if the zero Trump coin holders will get invited to the occasion.
