Crypto win for the White House - but the Trump meme coin raises ethical dilemmas, says ALEX BRUMMER
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The soaring value of Donald and Melania Trump’s crypto currency, in awe of the President’s second White House coming, is one of the more bizarre aspects of his impact on the world of finance. It is no secret that Trump and his efficiency czar Elon Musk think that computer-generated currencies are the bee’s knees.
Trump wants the next boss of the Securities and Exchange Commission to be crypto friendly, erasing the stymied efforts of the last chairman Gary Gensler to restrict access. That proved a hopeless enterprise with the value of bitcoin soaring another 4.2 per cent to $109,071 yesterday.
Despite the black marks against crypto – the mystery behind mining, the enormous energy requirement, dodgy exchanges, and the collapse of fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX – it continues to soar. Along the way, crypto enriches retail investors and hedge funds who never miss a get-rich-quick trading experience.
Crypto President: Donald Trump's cryptocurrency $Trump ha been valued at £12bn, far more than M&S which has been around for 141-years. It also, as the US Justice Department has ruled, provides a haven for crooks and terror networks. $TRUMP, launched by CIC Digital, a Trump Organisation company, takes the whole crypto scam to a new level.
Selling Trump-branded sneakers may be tawdry and plastering your name over hotels and golf courses egotistical and exploitative. But for the leader of the free world to profit from power and global fame by developing his own currency raises ethical dilemmas.
