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President Trump is further integrating crypto into his business empire, allowing holders of his official memecoin TRUMP to purchase merchandise.
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US President Donald Trump has tied his official memecoin to merchandise, allowing holders to purchase sneakers, watches and fragrances with the Official Trump (TRUMP) token. The move shows the expanding crypto footprint of the 47th president of the United States, a remarkable turnaround since saying crypto value is “based on thin air” years ago.
According to a Jan. 29 Bloomberg report, the three websites accepting TRUMP for the president’s merchandise are GetTrumpSneakers.com, GetTrumpWatches.com and GetTrumpFragrances.com. According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Trump-linked company CIC Ventures LLC owns the websites.
In addition to Trump’s token, the websites accept Bitcoin (BTC).
The move gives utility to TRUMP, which had previously been used simply for speculation or support of the new president. According to Solscan, the memecoin has around 700,000 holders, though affiliates of the Trump Organization own 80% of the supply.
TRUMP holders can use the memecoin and Bitcoin to pay for purchases. Source: Trump Sneakers
Related: Elizabeth Warren joins call for probe of Trump over crypto tokens
Trump ventures into digital assets despite calls of conflicts of interest
Linking TRUMP to websites selling his merchandise shows President Trump’s growing willingness to incorporate cryptocurrency into his business empire, even as government watchdogs are sounding the alarm.
After initially wading into Web3 waters with the launch of a series of non-fungible token (NFT) collections in 2022, the president and his family have raised money for a decentralized finance platform called World Liberty Financial, which has been on a cryptocurrency buying spree.
Alongside the official token of the president, First Lady Melania Trump has also debuted her own memecoin, dubbed MELANIA.
Furthermore, Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of President Trump’s social network, announced on Jan. 29 that it is expanding into financial services, including investment vehicles like cryptocurrency. Shares of the company jumped 8% in early morning trading after the announcement.
DJT stock performance on Jan. 29. Source: Google Finance
The first pro-crypto president of the United States, Trump has made several promises to the crypto community and mostly delivered on them. So far, he has pardoned Ross Ulbricht — the creator of the dark net marketplace Silk Road — and created a working group to explore the feasibility of building a digital asset reserve for the country.
Related: Trump’s executive order sparks $1.9B of inflows to crypto ETPs
Under the new Trump administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has created a new crypto task force “dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.” During the Joe Biden administration, the agency actively pursued a regulation-by-enforcement approach.
While crypto enthusiasts welcome a pro-crypto president in the White House, others are more critical. Some see Trump’s crypto ventures as a conflict of interest — especially now that he is the president of the United States.
Danielle Brian, head of the watchdog group Project On Government Oversight, recently said in an interview: “He has the power not only to be making money but he’s actually going to be in position to be making determinations around that entire sector.”
At the height of the memecoins’ launches, some observers noted that the Trump family had added billions to their net worth since they control most of the tokens’ supply.
Related: House Democrats want ethics probe on Trump over crypto projects
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
