A progressive think tank is asking the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to probe the legality of President Donald Trump\u2019s new memecoin.<\/p>\n
The president launched<\/a> the Official Trump (TRUMP<\/a>) memecoin in mid-January, days before he took office.<\/p>\n The controversial crypto asset rapidly skyrocketed in value and is now the 41st-largest digital asset by market cap.<\/p>\n In a new letter<\/a> to the DOJ and the Office of Government Ethics, officials at the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen say the memecoin could be a violation of federal law regulating gifts to government officials.<\/p>\n Public Citizen officials point out that the TRUMP website notes<\/a> the memecoins \u201care not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAccordingly, a person sending money for a Trump meme is not purchasing a tangible product. Instead, the person receives only a digital receipt (in a blockchain), which is similar to a donor sending a check and receiving digital confirmation that the check was received\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n In short, it appears Trump is not soliciting money in exchange for an investment or tangible product (such as a Bible, sports shoes, or a guitar), but soliciting money in exchange for nothing \u2014 that is, asking for a gift that will benefit him personally.<\/em><\/p>\n Beyond the issue of solicitation, the Constitution (Article 1, Section 9) forbids accepting money (specifically a \u2018present\u2019 or \u2019emolument\u2019<\/em>) or anything of value from any \u2018king, prince, or foreign state.\u2019 Because of the nature of a cryptocurrency exchange, it is difficult to know whether foreign state actors are gifting the president by way of purchasing a Trump meme.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Public Citizen officials aren\u2019t the only ones to question the merit of assets like TRUMP. Ethereum (ETH<\/a>) founder Vitalik Buterin said<\/a> last month that political coins represented \u201cvehicles for unlimited political bribery,\u201d though he didn\u2019t mention any specific token by name.<\/p>\n Don’t Miss a Beat \u2013 Subscribe<\/a> to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox <\/span><\/em>   Generated Image: Midjourney<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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