Why Trump's Crypto Scheme May Be His Shadiest Grift Yet

Although it has been a treat to see the Trump media share price drop off a hillIt's less fun to think about how much the whole enterprise distorts democracy.

Before Trump, it was impossible to imagine a former president helping a publicly traded company while running for office again. However, Trump's presidency broke every rule as Trump used his office to line his pockets.

A second Trump presidency will be worse, no doubt, especially because the federal courts, now filled with Trump appointees. Weak in happiness That left little guardrails.

Although the name “Trump Media” implies some kind of multifaceted media empire, it's really just the true social, Trump hard-right social media network. True social, to put it bluntly, Not terribly popular. its audience is drowsyEven Trump is back Posted on XA competing platform with viewers About 100 times That is true social. was in stock Ridiculously overratedEstimated at $7 billion despite truth social postings million dollars Losses and almost no revenue.

None of that seemed to matter to die-hard Trump fans, who poured money into the stock that one stock analyst called “Quasi-religious fervorThey were happy to excuse the loss, saying in a statement, “I did it more as a statement to President Trump and to show support at that time.” Teri Lynn Roberson to ABC News. “I wasn't really looking to make a lot of money,” said Roberson, who bought five shares of the company after it went public in March.

That's probably the best attitude that Trump's top media executives started with sold out Their shares are taking huge losses in their quest to get out of failing stocks as quickly as possible. Trump still owns his shares, representing about 57% As of September 19 of the company, Trump could not sell the shares, as he and other company insiders had been for six months Lock-up period. At the end of the lock-up period, Trump said he would not sell his shares, a statement that goosed At that time the share price is little

In a typical company, this could be seen as a vote of confidence from the founder, a willingness to risk their own fate. But Trump has a darker reason for holding on to his stock. If Trump wins the election, investors are likely to buy Trump Media stocks increases. people can Buy access The president is throwing money at his company, which he will run from the White House.

As Abdullah Fayad As explained in VoxIt's easy to imagine someone maxing out their campaign contributions and deciding to show support for Trump by investing in Trump media instead. However, this is not a guess.

Billions of dollars in Trump's first term pour in At his hotel in Washington, DC, Republicans pretend they're staying there because it's the most convenient location. However, they did ever since That hotel since it changed hands became a Waldorf Astoria in 2022.

And why would they? It's no longer a way to show their support by helping Trump benefit financially. Trump has also shifted his focus away from selling access to Mar-a-Lago $1 million per membership

Trump Media is an ethical nightmare, but at least it's a publicly traded company, which comes with transparency and oversight. Trump's shock in this Crypto marketOn the other hand, opaque and unregulated—the perfect vehicle for a corrupt former president to become spectacularly more corrupt if re-elected.

The crypto project with the inspired name of World Liberty Financial serves as a way for Trump to give all his failures – now including Barron, who is the “visionary” behind the project – a fake job that still brings in real money. The fact that all of Trump's grown sons — none of whom worked in the financial sector — are leading the project is a way of saying that this crypto endeavor will be another unsavory outrage.

Additionally, no one seems to know what this crypto company will do, even after launching a two-hour livestream effort. Even Trump isn't entirely sure. While trying to explain it, here is what he is came with: “Crypto is one of those things that we have to do… whether we like it or not, I have to do it… it's crypto, it's AI, it's everything else,” he said. In an interview In X. got it

where something Trump's other initiativesLike Trump Sticks, Trump Bottled Water, and Trump Vodka, which would have appealed to the masses if they were any better, Trump's relatively newfound affinity for crypto is entirely related to that financial sector. Right wing politics. It's a way for him to court the crypto vote and contrast himself with the Biden-Harris administration, which cracked Crypto scams and people like to be sued Sam Bankman-Fried for defrauding investors out of billions of dollars.

Spending in the crypto sector Over $100 million So far, during the 2024 election cycle, we hope to usher in an era Less supervision and less consumer protection. If you want less regulation of financial markets, Trump is the superior political choice.

Conservatives already on the Supreme Court Severely dented The Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to deal with violations by ruling that they must conduct full jury trials rather than using an in-house administrative process. Those same conservatives too Just hit down D Chevron doctrine, which required courts to defer to agency interpretations of the law.

Under Biden, there is the current head of the SEC, Gary Gensler to call The crypto sector is “full of frauds and hucksters and grifters.” If Trump wins in 2024, he will SEC is weak Without legislation or court action simply installing people who will not impose fines or pursue fraudulent crypto companies. That's not just a gift Crypto bros are courting TrumpAlthough it would also be a move that lines Trump's pockets with unregulated crypto cash while in the White House.

Common people can see the obvious problem here. Trump shouldn't have personal business interests while in the White House, period, but all of that went out the window in his first administration. Trump must not have a personal business in a regulated industry like securities when he has the power to weaken regulations on his own business.

But Trump fans love to give Trump's businesses make money and increase his personal bottom line. They understand very well that Trump looks favorably upon their efforts to raise cash. If he wins in November and floats his nonsense crypto project until he takes office in 2025, conservatives—and hucksters and grifters—will have a very easy way to buy off the president without fear of oversight.

The only way to stop this is to ensure a Trump victory. Of course, he'll still continue to hawk whatever products will help him flip his supporters, but at least he won't be able to do it from the Oval Office.