Less than a month has passed since Donald Trump’s own What is that? on the eve of his inauguration—and yet, in crypto, it’s felt like half a lifetime.
Although he had embraced cryptocurrency in There are many ways to use, Trump—arguably the most famous person on Earth—suddenly shilling his own meme coin, while ascending to (arguably) the most powerful position on the planet, broke a few brains and fried several more.
The fact that the President may have just made himself several billions dollars during his tenure in office surprised many people, including myself. President himself. Trump responded that he was against the coin when asked about it earlier in the week. “didn’t know much about it other than I launched it” The following are some examples of how to get started: “heard it was very successful.”
This week many have wondered, with a mixture of giddiness and despair, how this could be possible. What’s more, is something like this legal?
Decrypt The question was posed to several legal experts, as well as researchers on presidential power. All agreed that, whether they liked it or not: the cat is out of the bag. And at this point, there are few ways to put it back in—if anyone even wanted to try.
The American Presidents are generally granted incredible discretion and power. A groundbreaking ruling Despite being stripped of their immunity by the U.S. Supreme Court in August, it appears that they will still retain a large part of this after leaving office.
There are no laws or regulations that govern the presidency. Nor are presidents required to adhere to disclosures of conflicting interests and other requirements for cabinet members. Most of the norms governing the U.S. presidency are just that—norms.
You can safely say that the launch of a coin with a funny meme is quite exciting. Behaviour of a commander in chief. However, there is no law in the U.S. that specifically prohibits a President from acting this way.
“The irony is, we don't know for sure what is legal and what isn't legal here, because the Biden Administration essentially declined to tell us,” Brian Frye is a professor of law at the University of Kentucky. Decrypt.
Former Democratic President, Bill Clinton, did not set up any laws to regulate digital assets. He instead encouraged the SEC. Suing crypto companies Sporadically, via an effective strategy of “regulation by enforcement.”
Here is my NEW official Trump meme! Now is the time to celebrate all that we are: Winning! My very own Trump Community is waiting for you. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to https://t.co/GX3ZxT5xyq — Have Fun! pic.twitter.com/flIKYyfBrC
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2025
Trump’s launch of a meme coin was a precursor to a much more radical change. Allowable Regulatory environment for cryptocurrency. Frye said that it appears, now, that President Trump’s creation a meme currency has in fact legalized the activity.
“It seems like it'll be awfully difficult for the SEC to go after someone else for doing the same thing that the president has done or is currently doing,” “He said”
Cheryl Isaac, an attorney specializing in the regulation of digital assets at K&L Gates, told Decrypt She is confident in the fact that memes have already been created Proof of their own existence The SEC has a much more strict oversight of commodities.
Isaac explained that under the CFTC, the act of making a meme coin is not subject to scrutiny. Isaac said that the CFTC would get involved only if someone created a meme coin and made promises on a token’s value in the future or did not pay out tokens when they were paid.
“The CFTC is not focused on what the product is or isn't doing,” She explained. “It's focused on how market participants are being protected from bad acts related to those products.”
Trump neither promised the future value of his meme coin nor stopped investors from getting their allotted tokens. Further, putting presidential immunity aside, the CFTC’s definition of a conflict of interest is incredibly narrow—tailored more to preventing a financial exchange from launching its own products, for example.
It hasn’t deterred some people from trying to look into the issue. Elizabeth Warren, a well-known crypto critic and senator from Massachusetts, spoke out against the technology on Thursday. sent a letter To several federal regulatory agencies requesting an investigation into Trump’s launch of his meme coin, and the creation a new crypto-token By his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.
These investigations may not yield any results in the legal realm. Trump’s jokes about the coin memes are not without ethical implications.
Richard Briffault, Columbia University’s legal expert and leading authority on government ethics said Trump’s new token presents an enormous opportunity for politicians worldwide who wish to fill the president’s pockets.
“It creates a serious ethical problem, in that he's basically in a position where people who want to win the favor of the government can buy his coin,” Briffault was told Decrypt. “It's as if he's inviting people to give him a gift.”
Justin Sun is a controversial cryptocurrency founder who was charged with fraud last month. Allegations of Fraud Give Imagine the millions of people who could be affected by this? World Liberty Financial is another one of Trump’s cryptocurrency projects.
Tech leaders in crypto have begun to speak out against the ethics of politicians creating their own cryptocurrency products. Vitalik Buterin is the co-founder of Ethereum Disparaged Meme coins designed by leaders such as Trump “perfect bribery vehicle[s].”
It is because they make such an ideal bribery tool that the risk associated with politician coins exists. If a politician issues a coin, you do not even need to send *them* any coins to give them money. Instead, you just buy and hold the coin, and this increases the value of their holdings… https://t.co/8Zkd7KcpuA
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 23, 2025
While Columbia’s Briffault acknowledges that previous U.S. presidents have greatly expanded the power of the office—for example, by going to war without congressional approval—he says the implications of Trump’s crypto activity are unprecedented.
“I'm not aware of any president who has done so much to basically boost his own bank account, and that of his family,” Briffault stated: “It’s a whole different order of problem.”
Barring an intervening act of Congress—which is essentially unthinkable for now, given Republican control of the chamber—the scholar said little can be done about the current state of affairs.
What does that mean? If Trump created an ethical dilemma with his crypto deals, will the issue be resolved when he leaves the White House in 2029 for good?
Briffault remains sceptical. It is possible that a new norm for presidential behavior has just been set.
“It’s very rare that a president gives back power,” “He said”