Crypto billionaire Justin Sun says he’s the biggest owner of Trump’s meme coin, will attend dinner with president

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Crypto billionaire Justin Sun says he’s the biggest owner of Trump’s meme coin, will attend dinner with president

The largest holder of President Trump’s cryptocurrency token is entrepreneur Justin Sun, the billionaire revealed Tuesday — earning him an invite to a controversial dinner this week hosted by Mr. Trump for his meme coin’s biggest backers.

Sun announced he will attend Thursday evening’s dinner at Mr. Trump’s D.C.-area golf club — which is open to the 220 largest holders of the $TRUMP meme coin — in a

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, describing himself as the president’s “TOP fan.”

“As the top holder of $TRUMP, I’m excited to connect with everyone, talk crypto, and discuss the future of our industry,” wrote Sun, who founded the Tron blockchain and faced a securities lawsuit from Biden-era federal regulators.

The meme coin’s website

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the largest holder of $TRUMP as somebody with the username “Sun” who owns about 1.4 million tokens — worth around $19 million at Tuesday’s trading price.

In addition to the dinner for the top 220 holders of $TRUMP, the president is also hosting an “Exclusive Reception” at his club in Northern Virginia for the token’s top 25 holders. Sun did not immediately respond when asked by CBS News if he would attend the smaller reception.

What is the $TRUMP meme coin — and why is it controversial?

The meme coin was launched in January, days before Mr. Trump’s inauguration. An affiliate of the Trump organization and a firm called Fight Fight Fight LLC control 80% of the coin’s total supply. 

Meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is driven mostly by online buzz, especially on social media. They typically do not have intrinsic value and are not used for transactions. Like many meme coins, $TRUMP is

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: Its price peaked at around $75 shortly after its launch, but plummeted to under $8 by early April.

But late last month, the price surged after the dinner with Mr. Trump was announced. Buyers spent more than $140 million to buy the $TRUMP coins in hopes of securing an invitation to the event, according to data analytics firm Inca Digital.

Mr. Trump previously vowed on social media to “make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.” The president and his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are backing the crypto exchange World Liberty Financial, and crypto makes up some $2.9 billion of Mr. Trump’s net worth according to a recent report.

Eric Trump in January called the $TRUMP coin “the hottest digital meme on earth.”

The $TRUMP private dinner marketing promotion — and the president’s links to World Liberty — have raised concerns among government watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers about potential conflicts of interest.

The Senate on Monday advanced a bill, dubbed the GENIUS Act, that would regulate so-called stablecoins — a type of cryptocurrency linked to the value of an asset like the U.S. dollar or gold. The bill faced some pushback from Democrats who pushed for anti-corruption rules, often citing Mr. Trump’s crypto holdings.

“How convenient: the day after the Senate advances the GENIUS Act, Justin Sun — a major investor in the Trump family crypto venture — announces he’s getting a private dinner as the President’s top crypto buyer,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.

The White House has dismissed criticism that Mr. Trump’s support for the crypto sector represents a conflict of interest, noting his assets are held in a trust managed by his children.

“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,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement Tuesday.

Who is Justin Sun?

Sun has a

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of $8.5 billion, according to Forbes. He’s best known for the Tron blockchain — and for paying $6.2 million at auction for a banana that artist Maurizio Cattelan duct-taped to a wall, which Sun promptly ate as part of a “unique artistic experience.” 

Sun says his firm has also invested tens of millions in the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial.

He was

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by the Biden-era Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly “fraudulently manipulating the secondary market” for a crypto token created by his company. The suit also accused his firm of paying celebrities like Lindsey Lohan and Jake Paul to promote the token “without disclosing their compensation.” Sun’s attorneys have

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on the suit.

But earlier this year, the SEC and Sun

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the lawsuit to “explore a potential resolution.” The halt was part of a broader shift by the Trump administration to ease cryptocurrency enforcement.

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.

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