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President Donald Trump hosts an exclusive dinner today for the first 220 holders of his eponymously named "TRUMP" cryptocurrency, a controversial class of cryptocurrency known as a "meme coin."Trump Organization-affiliated entities hold 80 percent of the TRUMP cryptocurrency token, which launched in January 2025 and is currently valued at more than $3 say Trump's ownership of this cryptocurrency creates a potential conflict of interest against his support of the cryptocurrency industry at private dinner, seen by some as a cash-for-access opportunity, will be held at the Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., in Northern from the ethical and political questions surrounding Trump's association with the project, the project has attracted further controversy from its status as a 'meme coin' — but what exactly does that mean?Trump and Cryptocurrency – A Quick RecapCryptocurrencies are digital currencies that are bought and sold as tokens, in a manner similar to foreign currency exchange. Some of the most famous cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and say cryptocurrency can provide finance and exchange solutions to people who cannot access banking or offer a more equitable, private, and community-driven financial environment compared to traditional, centralized cryptocurrencies with the biggest market capitalizations, or buy-in, may become popular because of their potential use cases, such as Bitcoin, whose supporters believe it could become a new store of wealth or act as a hedge against the right knowledge, anyone can create a cryptocurrency. It's up to the people who create them to decide the utility, security, and how it is , the ease with which cryptocurrencies can be created presents other opportunities, some more nefarious than coins refer to a class of cryptocurrencies that may not have any real use case but typically generate word-of-mouth-driven investment based on the popularity of something else, such as a celebrity or an online trend or meme (hence the name).While many of the most successful ones were released in the early 2010s, their success picked up dramatically around 2021 as cryptocurrency hit mainstream example, DOGE, the namesake from which Elon Musk named the Department of Government Efficiency, is a cryptocurrency created as a joke, emblemized by "doge", a popular meme based on a photo of a Shiba Inu hunting it started as a joke, DOGE has since become one of the highest-valued cryptocurrencies in the world, driven in part by adoption and investment from Elon Musk. Despite its popularity, the project's utility has not advanced types of cryptocurrencies are often created quickly to hop on the back of profitable trends. For example, DOGE's success led to a host of other successful meme coins with thematic similarities, such as Shiba Inu, Baby Doge Coin, and Floki (based on the name of Elon Musk's dog).Meme coins typically do not generate long-term value. Their prices usually spike based on word-of-mouth, then quickly plummet as interest dies down. This high-risk approach, which has nonetheless attracted millions of investors hoping to get rich quickly, has opened the door to scams that have cost billions of , Ponzi Schemes, and Angry InvestorsThe most common of these scams are known as "pump and dumps" where a cryptocurrency's creator holds onto most of their currency's supply, creates excitement and hype around their release and then, when enough investors have bought in, sells their share, sinking the value of the "pump and dumps" can be organized around traditional financial instruments like stocks and shares, poor meme coin regulation, anonymity, and trend-based popularity have empowered Gerard Comizio, Associate Director and Professor of the Business Law Program at Washington College of Law, told Newsweek meme coins are viewed by critics as a "risky investment at best, and at worst, a new form of Ponzi scheme.""The offering of the coin is preceded by a lot of initial interest and hype fueled by the A-lister or celebrity status and social media presence associated with the originator of the coin," Comizio said."The hype can cause the coin to initially skyrocket in price as new investors respond to the hype and jump in to buy it, but this growth is usually not sustainable since the meme price depends on a continued pipeline of new investors."However, initial investor interest will recede, the meme price will typically crash, causing the initial investors to lose some or most of their investment."This 'hype and crash' often associated with meme coin is a good reason for potential investors to completely understand that the meme coin has no intrinsic value and, is not today subject to any regulation governing these coins or their sale, and they could stand to lose some or all of their investment."Meme coins are not inherently fraudulent, but their mechanisms and popularity make them attractive to fraudsters and scams. Many celebrities and public figures have launched meme coin cryptocurrencies, although not all with resounding success or year, investors who bought the $HAWK token, a meme coin cryptocurrency based on and promoted by internet meme celebrity Hailey Welsh, sued the token's creators, claiming Welch's popularity was leveraged to dupe "first-time" investors into buying what they said was marketed as a "groundbreaking cryptocurrency project.""The rapid decline in the Token's value caused substantial damages to investors who relied on Welch's participation and the project's stated road map," the defendants' lawyers stated in their Donald Trump's Cryptocurrency a "Meme Coin?"To be clear, there is no evidence that Donald Trump's cryptocurrency has been designed to swindle or foil investors as others , TRUMP has seemingly no utility beyond the popularity of the brand it is attached to and has consistently slid in value since it was launched in January 2025. In May 2025, the price of one TRUMP cryptocurrency coin hovered between $11 and $15, down from its peak of around $45 in January, according to cryptocurrency website the admission of TRUMP's creators, it is a meme coin. It is referred to on its official website as "THE ONLY OFFICIAL TRUMP MEME" adding, "Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol "$TRUMP" and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type."" is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency," it has contacted the TRUMP official website via a contact form for House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Newsweek: "The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself."President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public – which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media."Professor Comizio told Newsweek that while meme coins are just another type of investment, it was important that average investors know about the risks."One of the concerns associated with meme coin offerings is that, unlike regulation that applies to offerings of other types of financial investments such as stocks or mutual funds, there is no regulation that ensures that potential meme coin investors receive full, fair and accurate disclosure of the potential investment risks associated with such investments-including the potential to lose some or all of your investment," Comizio said."Nor are there any other regulatory safeguards applicable to the manner and conduct of such offerings."The Trump administration has taken steps to legitimize the trade and availability of cryptocurrencies. This week, the Senate passed a cloture vote on The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoin Act, a bill that would attempt to regulate the market for stablecoins, a class of cryptocurrency pegged to a commodity or currency such as the U.S. David Yermack, Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation at New York University Stern School of Business, told Newsweek that the example set by TRUMP could have wide ranging implications."Many meme coins are expressions of affinity, where the purchaser of the coin uses it to signal support for a sports team, or a musical performer, or some other type of issuer."In that sense, meme coins issued by politicians may have a role to play in fundraising, campaigning, and advertising over the long term."I think this whole area is very new, and innovation will continue, and I doubt that Trump will be the last politician to issue his own coin."You might see all the presidential candidates in 2028 launching meme coins."
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