Two Massachusetts Democrats sent a letter to various regulators asking them to open an investigation into President Trump’s and first lady Melania Trump’s recently launched meme coins.
The letter, signed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), was sent to the Office of Government Ethics, the Department of the Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The letter asks the regulators how they plan to address the “unprecedented concerns” posed by the meme coins launched last week.
“We write with deep concern about the decision by President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to launch two meme coins, $TRUMP and $MELANIA, that allow them to earn extraordinary profits off his Presidency,” the lawmakers wrote.
During a press conference Tuesday, his first full day back in the White House, Trump was asked by a reporter if he intends to continue creating products that benefit himself, like the meme coin.
The reporter informed the president that he made several billion dollars over the last few days because of the crypto coin. The president shrugged off the sum of money.
The coin was Trump’s first official cryptocurrency. It was announced before his inauguration weekend and quickly shot up in value.
The lawmakers noted in their letter that the launch of the coin benefited Trump and argued that “hostile nations” can buy the coins covertly, raising an untraceable foreign influence over Trump.
The Democrats also highlighted how crypto coins are known for being “rug pulls,” which means Trump and his business entities could quickly abandon their shares, leaving his supporters who purchased shares “left holding the bag.”
They also argued there are issues of conflicts of interest with the coin, as Trump took office amid the launch but his organization owns 80 percent of the coin’s shares. Reporting indicates that the coin now accounts for a “whopping 89 percent” of Trump’s net worth and is now responsible for leading the country’s top federal financial entities.
The coins, the lawmakers said, “present grave risks to President Trump’s ability to impartially govern our nation.”
“Given the ethics, foreign influence, and consumer concerns raised by President’s Trump action, we request the answers to the following questions by February 4, 2025,” the Democrats requested.
Trump’s launch sparked criticism from political opponents and members of the crypto world.
