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GM. Eric here.
Has Donald Trump launched a memecoin?
The question has delighted, distressed and discomposed degens this week.
It began after reports suggested that Trump’s 18-year-old son Barron spearheaded a new token called DJT — a nod to his father’s initials.
The confusing saga unfolded on X and involved pharma bro Martin Shkreli, the rise of political memecoins and multi-million dollar bets on Polymarket.
It highlights how the US is gearing up to its first ever crypto election.
Undoubtedly, Shkreli touting the veracity of DJT further fanned the flames.
A reminder: Shkreli is a former pharmaceutical executive and hedge fund manager.
He rose to international infamy in 2015 after hiking the price of an medicine used by AIDS patients by 5,500% to $750 per pill.
"He looks like a spoiled brat to me," Trump said about Shkreli at the time.
It is unclear what sparked the DJT outrage.
Possibly, it was fuelled by residual animosity against the pharma bro, or worry that it was a scam designed to hurt the crypto industry.
Other Trump-themed memecoin creators — there are a lot of them — may’ve just sought to protect their own bottom lines.
What is clear is that Trump campaign insiders have rejected claims that they had anything to do with DJT, as Tom Carreras reported in this scoop.
The flame war rages on.
Prominent crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond has launched a think tank. Joanna Wright caught up with her to talk about Trump, FTX and the industry’s growing lobbying efforts.
The intersection of AI and crypto is a $20 trillion opportunity, and Pantera Capital portfolio manager Cosmo Jiang told me the hedge fund plans to pour $200 million into seizing it.
Kraken and CertiK clashed this week over a $3 million bug. Tim Craig and Liam Kelly checked in with an industry bewildered by the event, especially as CertiK used Tornado Cash to send money back to Kraken.
Post of the week
If you took Kanye, Da Vinci, the Buddha, Alex Jones, Einstein, Aristotle, and Bukowski and combined the heights of their genius, it might - might - compare with the past forty days of creative output I’ve had.
I am crypto’s Thanos.
The unifier of genius.
— Ryan Selkis (d/acc) 🇺🇸 (@twobitidiot)
10:45 PM • Jun 19, 2024
Messari boss Ryan Selkis took a break from clashing with Shkreli over DJT to toot his own horn on X.
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