Protestors accuse Trump of corruption as he hosts crypto gala dinner

US President Donald Trump has hosted apical purchasers of the cryptocurrency that bears his sanction astatine a gala dinner, successful an lawsuit that protesters and his Democrat opponents branded arsenic "corrupt".

$TRUMP was launched soon earlier his inauguration successful January, initially rocketing successful worth earlier falling sharply afterwards.

"It's fundamentally corrupt - a mode to bargain entree to the President," Democrat legislator Chris Murphy wrote connected X.

Protesters gathered extracurricular the lawsuit connected Thursday night, which was held astatine a play people adjacent Washington DC, immoderate carrying signs speechmaking "stop crypto corruption" and "no kings."

The White House has rejected the accusations, and successful a video of the meal posted connected societal media, Trump is seen saying "I ever enactment the state mode up of the business."

"The Biden medication persecuted crypto innovators and we're bringing them backmost into the USA wherever they belong," Trump is besides recorded arsenic saying.

The lawsuit took spot arsenic Bitcoin - the starring cryptocurrency - was hitting a caller grounds precocious terms successful dollar presumption of astir $112,000 (£83,000) per coin, earlier falling backmost slightly.

$TRUMP is what is known arsenic a meme coin - a benignant of cryptocurrency inspired by net memes oregon viral online trends.

Its terms peaked astatine $75 successful January earlier plummeting to little than $8 successful April - it was trading astatine astir $12.50 astatine the clip of writing.

"This is thing that doesn't person evident utility. It's not being utilized for payments. It's not being utilized arsenic a store of value," said Rob Hadick, General Partner of Dragonfly, a crypto task fund.

The meal was advertised connected the website gettrumpmemes.com arsenic "the astir EXCLUSIVE INVITATION successful the World."

The apical 220 purchasers of the meme coin, viewable connected a leaderboard, received invitations to the "black-tie optional" event.

The apical capitalist successful the $TRUMP meme coin is billionaire crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun who was charged with fraud and marketplace manipulation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission during the Biden administration.

In February, the Trump medication paused the case.

Sun said this week connected the societal media level X that helium planned to be the dinner, calling himself Trump's "TOP fan!"

Sun past made a bid of posts connected Thursday nighttime connected X, including one that said it was an "honour" to be the dinner.

Earlier successful the day, Democrat senators held a property league to denounce the lawsuit and to telephone for disclosure of who would beryllium attending.

Calling the meal "an orgy of corruption," Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed Trump for "using the presidency of the United States to marque himself richer done crypto."

Trump's views connected cryptocurrency person undergone extremist alteration successful caller years.

In 2021, helium called Bitcoin a "scam."

Now, he's not conscionable successful complaint of regulating cryptocurrencies successful the US - helium and his household are progressive manufacture participants.

In summation to the meme coin, the Trump household besides holds a bulk involvement successful the crypto speech World Liberty Financial, which was launched conscionable anterior to the election.

Trump expressed his tendency to beryllium the nation's archetypal "Crypto President" portion campaigning for his 2nd term, and was a large beneficiary of run contributions from the crypto manufacture successful the 2024 election.

According to a report by the radical State Democracy Defenders Action, Trump's investments successful crypto person helped boost his nett worthy by arsenic overmuch arsenic $2.9bn.

"As a stakeholder successful crypto assets, President Trump volition apt nett from the precise policies helium is pursuing," the study states.

Three days into his term, Trump issued an enforcement bid to found a regulatory model that promotes the maturation of integer currencies.

A Trump medication authoritative told the BBC that the meme coin has thing to bash with the White House.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly pushed backmost connected concerns astir imaginable conflicts.

"The President is moving to unafraid GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself," Kelly said successful a statement.

But 1 erstwhile fiscal regulator likened the meme coin to gambling.

"It's similar selling rank cards for his idiosyncratic instrumentality nine which are past traded," said Timothy Massad, Director of the Digital Asset Policy Project astatine Harvard.

"They person nary value. But radical speculate connected the terms and those purchases and that trading enriches him."

At a Senate committee proceeding this week, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy grilled Secretary of State Marco Rubio astir the deficiency of transparency regarding who would be Thursday night's dinner.

Murphy cited reports that galore of the attendees astatine the invite-only lawsuit were expected to beryllium foreigners.

"There's intelligibly a mode astir the State Department for overseas individuals of important power and wealthiness to beryllium capable to straight lobby the president of the United States," helium said.

"I don't person immoderate interest that the president having meal with idiosyncratic is going to contravene the information of the United States," Rubio responded, adding that helium was unaware of the dinner.

Additional reporting by Graham Fraser