Trump's Cryptocurrency Bribery Funnel

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." — U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4.

The U.S. Constitution only lists two impeachable crimes explicitly by name. One is treason, and the other is bribery. Yet, we now face a reality in which cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is openly soliciting bribes. He is not doing this furtively behind closed doors by bestowing favors in exchange for bags of cash, but rather in plain sight in view of everyone. Indeed, there is even a website dedicated to soliciting bribes where the dollar values of the top bribes are listed. Corruption is so endemic to Trump and his administration that we now appear to accept it as normal. But this open flouting of the law is not normal, and we should not treat it as such.

The scale of Trump's corruption is truly staggering. To understand the extent of it, it is necessary to understand Trump's involvement in cryptocurrencies. I previously wrote about the extensive participation of the Trump family in various cryptocurrency ventures. I won't repeat the details of that post, but today will concentrate on Trump's meme coins and his stablecoin. I want to be clear about the reality of cryptocurrencies and how they work. Such currencies have no intrinsic value. I used to say that investors were buying air, but then I realized that air, unlike cryptocurrencies, does actually have an intrinsic value. To illustrate how a cryptocurrency might work, imagine that I created a cryptocurrency named $DCUM, kept 60% of the coins for myself, and sold the others to anyone stupid enough to buy them. Assuming there were buyers, the value of my coins would increase, despite my not having put any money into them. At some point, I could sell my coins to other unwitting investors and take the money and run. The value of $DCUM would likely collapse, but that would not be my problem. Of course, nobody would be willing to buy $DCUM, but what if, instead of being a mere website owner, I were the President of the United States? In that case, there would be obvious advantages to buying such a coin. Indeed, as President, I would even be able to offer inducements to make such advantages even more clear. This is exactly what Trump is doing.

According to a recent article by CBS News, "President Trump's venture into crypto products has increased his family's wealth by billions in the last six months". The article discusses a report by the group, State Democracy Defenders Action, that says crypto holdings now represent nearly 40% of Trump's net worth, approximately $2.9 billion. In part, this is owed to the $TRUMP meme coin which Trump created three days before he was inaugurated for his second term as President. The $TRUMP meme coin is a clear mechanism for purchasing influence with the President. Investors are directly putting money into Trump's pocket. Moreover, the purchase of $TRUMP is not limited to U.S. citizens, so this provides an avenue for foreign influencers to submit bribes. Trump, neither in his behavior nor his interior decoration, is known for subtlety. Apparently, not satisfied with simply providing a mechanism for people to buy $TRUMP, Trump has gone even further. Through the website of his meme coin, "GetTrumpMemes.com", Trump is currently running a contest in which the top 220 purchasers of $TRUMP will be invited to an exclusive dinner with the President. Moreover, the top 25 investors will be able to attend a private reception with Trump. Trump is literally selling access to the highest bidder. The timing of this contest is crucial as it comes just before Trump will be able to sell a batch of his own $TRUMP coins. Therefore, he is pumping the value of his coins just before he can sell them.

The opportunity that the $TRUMP contest provides to those hoping to influence the President has not been lost. For example, Freight Technologies, an international trucking logistics firm, recently announced in a press release that it plans to spend as much as $20 million on the purchase of $TRUMP, as "an effective way to advocate for fair, balanced, and free trade between Mexico and the US." This acquisition of $TRUMP would make the company the largest purchaser and allow access to the private reception with Trump. Even before this purchase was announced, two investors had already spent more than $1 million each buying $TRUMP.

"And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State." — U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9.

An even bigger opportunity for funneling money to Trump is provided by World Liberty Financial, a crypto exchange in which Trump and his family have a 60% stake. As the New York Times reported, associates of World Liberty Financial have been directly recruiting foreign investors, using the connection to Trump as an attraction. World Liberty Financial offers a stablecoin — a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another currency. In this case, the stablecoin is USD1, which is tied to the value of the U.S. dollar. Recently, a United Arab Emirates state-owned firm, MGX, announced that it would purchase $2 billion worth of USD1. World Liberty Financial claims that this represents the "single largest-ever investment in a crypto company".

According to Wikipedia, "MGX was established in 2024 by the government of Abu Dhabi to channel investments into AI-driven technologies and startups and to foster innovation and drive economic growth within the region." The key point here is that MGX is a state-owned company that is putting money into a company in which the President has majority ownership and from which he will financially benefit. This is a clear violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which is an impeachable offense. Of course, the Republican-dominated Congress will do nothing, just as nothing was done during Trump's first administration when he repeatedly violated the same clause.

Trump's involvement in cryptocurrencies comes while he is in charge of the agencies that would normally regulate and investigate crypto ventures. Since returning to the White House, however, Trump has ordered that investigations cease and that agencies take a hands-off approach to the crypto industry. As such, the firms with which Trump is involved have little concern that their activities will suffer from government interference. To the contrary, the government is intentionally turning its head.

The situation in which we find ourselves is far worse than a fox being put in charge of the henhouse. Rather, the fox has been put in charge of the entire farm, and those wishing to curry favor with him are invited to invest in henhouses for the fox's benefit. Moreover, investors, whether they are companies involved in cross-border trade or state-owned investment firms, are not missing the opportunity. Congress has a clear role to play in this situation, but obviously has no appetite. Coincidentally, Congress has been attempting to pass legislation related to cryptocurrencies. That will be the topic of tomorrow's post.