Senator Elizabeth Warren is President Donald Trump’s meme coin is called foulwhich is pushing for the US Office of Government Ethics and financial regulatory agencies to dig into the ethical and regulatory details around $ TRUMP tokens.
Warren, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee that oversees US financial regulators, said the assets, including First Lady Melania Trump’s own eponymous meme coin, pose a conflict-of-interest that dangers for the president and highlights the most destructive and volatile corners. of the crypto sector.
“Almost overnight, the net worth of President Trump and his wife increased to $58 billion,” Warren wrote in the letter with Representative Jake Auchincloss, a fellow Massachusetts Democrat who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Anyone, including leaders of hostile nations, could secretly purchase these coins, raising the specter of uncontrollable and undetectable foreign influence on the President of the United States, while the President’s supporters Trump is neglecting the risk of investing in $TRUMP and $MELANIA.”
Launched on the Friday ahead of his inauguration this week, Trump’s token — in which his company maintains about 80% of the coins in circulation — rose rapidly from about $3 last week to nearly $37 on Thursday. This opens up the possibility for Trump to make “extraordinary profits from his presidency,” the lawmakers said.
The letter was sent to the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — each of which now has a new Trump pick at the helm. Warren and Auchincloss raised the point that Trump is in charge of appointing the permanent heads of these regulatory agencies who will make decisions that will affect the future of his crypto tokens.
None of the three federal agencies immediately responded to CoinDesk’s requests for comment on the letter, or whether they are reviewing the tokens in any other capacity.
“$TRUMP and $MELANIA present a grave danger to President Trump’s ability to impartially govern our country – and to those who invest in these coins, who may become victims of a rug pull scheme orchestrated by the Trump family, ” Warren’s letter concluded.
The lawmakers join other Democrats who have also raised concerns about Trump issuing these assets before taking office. Representative Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called for an investigation in a letter sent to the Republican chairman of his committee one day into Trump’s new term, additionally raising issues with World Liberty Financial and its ties to Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun. And Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, also shared her alarm about Trump’s coin.
Read more: House Dems Warn of Corruption in Trump’s Crypto Business Moves
