PURE SPECULATION
Mark Cuban writes crypto's obituary in the wake of Trump meme coin
Mark Cuban writes crypto's obituary in the wake of Trump meme coin
"Mint it, Print it, Sell it F--k it. That is the mantra for the world you are suggesting,"
Matthew Chapman
January 20, 2025
Matthew Chapman
January 20, 2025
RAW STORY
Bitcoin in hand of a businessman. (Shutterstock)
Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban had some harsh words for the cryptocurrency industry in the midst of multiple Donald Trump-themed coin launches that have been accused of being pump-and-dump schemes.
Over the weekend, a Trump meme coin appeared to create a $25 billion infusion of value for the president-elect. This morning, it was followed up by a coin from incoming First Lady Melania Trump that caused the original Trump coin to crash in value.
Arca's chief information officer Jeff Dorman hailed the development as "incredibly long-term bullish" for the crypto industry — but Cuban, posting to X in response, had a very different assessment.
"Mint it, Print it, Sell it F--k it. That is the mantra for the world you are suggesting," wrote Cuban, who hit the campaign trail as a surrogate for outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris last year. "This is the biggest bunch of self serving Bulls--t I have ever heard. In your world there is no ownership. Just speculation. Hello every scam targeted at everyone and anyone who has no clue about crypto. Good bye whatever hope the crypto industry had of legitimizing itself."
Outgoing Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler "has got to be laughing his ass off. And the new head of the SEC has got to be pissed," Cuban continued. "If he believes this nonsense he has no ability to enforce any SEC law. Stock, token. Bond. Nothing Rather than modifying the IPO process to accept crypto and give investors some understanding of what they are buying. Any registration requirements just flew out the window."
"I’ll say it again. Mint it, print it, sell it F--k it," Cuban repeated. "That is the mantra for the world you are suggesting."
Bitcoin in hand of a businessman. (Shutterstock)
Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban had some harsh words for the cryptocurrency industry in the midst of multiple Donald Trump-themed coin launches that have been accused of being pump-and-dump schemes.
Over the weekend, a Trump meme coin appeared to create a $25 billion infusion of value for the president-elect. This morning, it was followed up by a coin from incoming First Lady Melania Trump that caused the original Trump coin to crash in value.
Arca's chief information officer Jeff Dorman hailed the development as "incredibly long-term bullish" for the crypto industry — but Cuban, posting to X in response, had a very different assessment.
"Mint it, Print it, Sell it F--k it. That is the mantra for the world you are suggesting," wrote Cuban, who hit the campaign trail as a surrogate for outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris last year. "This is the biggest bunch of self serving Bulls--t I have ever heard. In your world there is no ownership. Just speculation. Hello every scam targeted at everyone and anyone who has no clue about crypto. Good bye whatever hope the crypto industry had of legitimizing itself."
Outgoing Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler "has got to be laughing his ass off. And the new head of the SEC has got to be pissed," Cuban continued. "If he believes this nonsense he has no ability to enforce any SEC law. Stock, token. Bond. Nothing Rather than modifying the IPO process to accept crypto and give investors some understanding of what they are buying. Any registration requirements just flew out the window."
"I’ll say it again. Mint it, print it, sell it F--k it," Cuban repeated. "That is the mantra for the world you are suggesting."
'Plumbing new depths of idiocy': Tech industry responds to 'preposterous' Trump crypto launch
Donald Trump in Phoenix on December 22, 2024 (Gage Skidmore)
Donald Trump in Phoenix on December 22, 2024 (Gage Skidmore)
ALTERNET
January 20, 2025
On Sunday, January 19 — the day before Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as president — the Associated Press (AP) reported that Trump "launched a new cryptocurrency token that is soaring in value, potentially boosting his net worth."
But on Inauguration Day, tech researcher and software engineer Molly White stressed that it's important to keep things in perspective and see what tech experts have to say about Trump memecoins.
White tweeted, "I’m not sure people quite grasp how much of the crypto world is reacting to the Trump memecoin launches."
White, to make her point, pointed to some tech professionals who have been tweeting about Trump and memecoins.
Nic Carter, founding partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures and a self-described "avowed and explicit" Trump supporter, told Politico, "It’s absolutely preposterous that he would do this. They’re plumbing new depths of idiocy.'"
Ryan Selkis tweeted, "Dear @realDonaldTrump, Please fire whoever recommended going forward with the Melania launch today."
Gafoor Kahan tweeted, "The fact that the US president is launching memecoins just shows how far crypto has come I’ve been in crypto for 7 years and have never seen something like this We started off as a small group of tech geeks and internet coins Now we’re taking over the world Crazy times."
When an X user accused White of "flailing" and promoting "the war on crypto," she responded, " you’re just determined to look dumb as hell, huh."
On Sunday, January 19 — the day before Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as president — the Associated Press (AP) reported that Trump "launched a new cryptocurrency token that is soaring in value, potentially boosting his net worth."
But on Inauguration Day, tech researcher and software engineer Molly White stressed that it's important to keep things in perspective and see what tech experts have to say about Trump memecoins.
White tweeted, "I’m not sure people quite grasp how much of the crypto world is reacting to the Trump memecoin launches."
White, to make her point, pointed to some tech professionals who have been tweeting about Trump and memecoins.
Nic Carter, founding partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures and a self-described "avowed and explicit" Trump supporter, told Politico, "It’s absolutely preposterous that he would do this. They’re plumbing new depths of idiocy.'"
Ryan Selkis tweeted, "Dear @realDonaldTrump, Please fire whoever recommended going forward with the Melania launch today."
Gafoor Kahan tweeted, "The fact that the US president is launching memecoins just shows how far crypto has come I’ve been in crypto for 7 years and have never seen something like this We started off as a small group of tech geeks and internet coins Now we’re taking over the world Crazy times."
When an X user accused White of "flailing" and promoting "the war on crypto," she responded, " you’re just determined to look dumb as hell, huh."
By Paul Wallis
January 19, 2025
DIGITAL JOURNAL
Former US president Donald Trump's (R) pick of former tech investor J.D. Vance as his running mate may indicate a shift in his policy on cryptocurrencies - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON
Like its namesake, Trump’s “meme coin” $TRUMP cryptocurrency clearly has its ups and downs. A meme coin is a coin named after a character. It’s said that Trump made $56 billion out of it, but it’s unclear who owns how much of what.
The key to this value is the conversion rate to the US dollar. It peaked at $74.59 yesterday. It’s now down at $45.75 after bouncing a bit at $41.
Ah, …yeah, sure. And the Tooth Fairy’s saving up for braces.
This is a classic speculation market.
TRUST NOTHING.
This currency also just happened to appear out of thin air.
It’s now that valuable.
People have already made money going in and out of it based on the hype.
It’s also classic crypto behavior. It’s not a currency of itself. It has to be bought and sold before it can be real money. You have to pass the parcel to someone who thinks the parcel is valuable.
Typically all Trump business ventures start with a lot of fanfare, much noise, and fizzle out after a while. People aren’t too sure if it’s a good move or a pure scam.
It might be a good move. The meme coin’s value is directly tied to him. So his continued existence is worth something to someone else.
The back end of Trump’s personal finances hasn’t changed much, though. The sheer amount of unfinished business was decades-long in the making and very costly.
The meme coin could be a valuable asset for creditors.
Nor is it even slightly clear who’s owed exactly what in the deeper debt context.
Being suddenly very much richer could be very bad situation for Trump. You can become a target. You get sued for much more. You’re more likely to be sued because people know you have that money, and they get more money that way.
The other problem is the nature of crypto. $TRUMP has already had a peak and a 40% dive from that peak in a few days. (Don’t worry, somebody always makes money on a price dive. Just not you if you’re holding when it falls.)
Volatility could be very dangerous. Crypto values fluctuate often. You can’t use them as security unless someone’s prepared to accept them. If $TRUMP goes down to about $25, it’s losing on its start price, never mind margins.
While writing this thing, the price has moved up and down to $50 and back down below where it started. (See this link to track.) You could probably make more money betting on where it goes next.
It’s likely the big crypto party will continue for a while.
Then it’s back to Disaster Land. The Big Deregulation Drive will likely put huge amounts of private money in the blender by “freeing it up” from regulation, aka protective laws.
This guy can turn any success into a catastrophe. He’s done it so often.
_______________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
Crypto Billionaire Trump Already 'Cashing In On the Presidency' With Meme Coi
"We now have a president-elect who, the weekend before inauguration, is launching new businesses along with promises to deregulate... those sectors in a way to just blatantly profit off his own presidency."
A smartphone displays a post from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Truth account announcing the $TRUMP meme coin on January 19, 2025.
(Photo: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Jan 19, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump faced a flood of criticism throughout the weekend for launching a cryptocurrency token as the world prepared for his Monday inauguration and policies expected to benefit the industry that helped Republicans take control of the White House and Congress.
"It is literally cashing in on the presidency—creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president's family in connection with his office," Campaign Legal Center executive director Adav Noti toldThe New York Times. "It is beyond unprecedented."
Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, also contrasted Trump's move with behaviors of past presidents, tellingPolitico, "It is absolutely wild."
"After decades of seeing presidents-elect spend the time leading up to inauguration separating themselves from their finances to show that they don't have any conflicts of interest, we now have a president-elect who, the weekend before inauguration, is launching new businesses along with promises to deregulate... those sectors in a way to just blatantly profit off his own presidency," said Libowitz.
The president-elected announced the $TRUMP meme coin, hosted on the Solana blockchain, via his Truth social media platform and X—owned by Elon Musk, his ally and the richest person on the planet—on Friday, declaring that "it's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!"
He linked to a website that explains "there are 200 million $TRUMP available on day one and will grow to a total of 1 billion $TRUMP over three years." It also states that "Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol '$TRUMP' and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type."
Forbesreported that "the remaining 80% of tokens that have yet to be publicly released are owned by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company formed in Delaware on January 7, according to state filings, and both companies will receive an undisclosed amount of revenue derived from trading activity."
The president-elect's son Eric Trump, who helps run Trump Organization, told the Times that "this is just the beginning."
"I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto," he said in a statement. "$TRUMP is currently the hottest digital meme on Earth."
In an article simply headlined, "Donald Trump, crypto billionaire," Axiosnoted that by Sunday morning, "Trump's crypto holdings were worth as much as $58 billion on paper, enough—with his other assets—to make him one of the world's 25 richest people."
Responding to Axios' report, Wa'el Alzayat, who served as a Middle East policy expert at the U.S. Department of State for a decade, said that "when I was in government I couldn't accept a lunch over $20. Now anyone can give our next president millions."
Predicting that "this is going to end VERY badly for everyone except Donald Trump and his cronies," journalist Jeff St. John said that "it is a scandal and an outrage."
The meme coin announcement came as "the elite of the crypto world" gathered in Washington, D.C. for the first-ever Crypto Ball.
The president-elect did not attend the event, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the nominees for commerce and treasury secretary, Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, were there. Reporting on the gala, Reuterspointed out that the Trump "courted crypto campaign cash with promises to be a 'crypto president,' and is expected next week to issue executive orders aimed at reducing crypto regulatory roadblocks and promoting widespread adoption of digital assets."
Trump is no stranger to ethics scandals. As Mother Jonesdetailed:
The meme coin is just the latest in a bizarre line of grifty, super-weird takes on "merch." Last February, Trump showed off gold "Never Surrender High-Tops" for $399 at Sneaker Con, which had Fox Newsapplauding his appeal to Black voters. In March, he began endorsing the $59.99 "God Bless the USA Bible," which includes the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and handwritten lyrics to the chorus of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." (Trump's inaugural committee has confirmed that he will not be using one of these Bibles to swear the presidential oath of office on Monday.) In August, Trump released a new round of his "baseball card" NFTs.
S.V. Dáte, a senior White House correspondent at HuffPost, highlighted Sunday that during the Republican's first term, "Trump's D.C. hotel was a convenient way for foreign and domestic lobbyists to put cash directly into his pocket."
"This crypto thing is next level. Anyone on the planet can put money directly into his pocket. Huge," Dáte added. "The efficiency here is a thing of beauty. With a hotel, you have all the costs of owning the property as well as paying cleaning staff, front desk staff, and so on. This selling of fake money is almost pure profit."
The Trump Organization sold the D.C. hotel in 2022, but The Wall Street Journalreported earlier this month that his "real estate company is in talks to reclaim" the property.
"We now have a president-elect who, the weekend before inauguration, is launching new businesses along with promises to deregulate... those sectors in a way to just blatantly profit off his own presidency."
A smartphone displays a post from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Truth account announcing the $TRUMP meme coin on January 19, 2025.
(Photo: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Jan 19, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump faced a flood of criticism throughout the weekend for launching a cryptocurrency token as the world prepared for his Monday inauguration and policies expected to benefit the industry that helped Republicans take control of the White House and Congress.
"It is literally cashing in on the presidency—creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president's family in connection with his office," Campaign Legal Center executive director Adav Noti toldThe New York Times. "It is beyond unprecedented."
Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, also contrasted Trump's move with behaviors of past presidents, tellingPolitico, "It is absolutely wild."
"After decades of seeing presidents-elect spend the time leading up to inauguration separating themselves from their finances to show that they don't have any conflicts of interest, we now have a president-elect who, the weekend before inauguration, is launching new businesses along with promises to deregulate... those sectors in a way to just blatantly profit off his own presidency," said Libowitz.
The president-elected announced the $TRUMP meme coin, hosted on the Solana blockchain, via his Truth social media platform and X—owned by Elon Musk, his ally and the richest person on the planet—on Friday, declaring that "it's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!"
He linked to a website that explains "there are 200 million $TRUMP available on day one and will grow to a total of 1 billion $TRUMP over three years." It also states that "Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol '$TRUMP' and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type."
Forbesreported that "the remaining 80% of tokens that have yet to be publicly released are owned by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company formed in Delaware on January 7, according to state filings, and both companies will receive an undisclosed amount of revenue derived from trading activity."
The president-elect's son Eric Trump, who helps run Trump Organization, told the Times that "this is just the beginning."
"I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto," he said in a statement. "$TRUMP is currently the hottest digital meme on Earth."
In an article simply headlined, "Donald Trump, crypto billionaire," Axiosnoted that by Sunday morning, "Trump's crypto holdings were worth as much as $58 billion on paper, enough—with his other assets—to make him one of the world's 25 richest people."
Responding to Axios' report, Wa'el Alzayat, who served as a Middle East policy expert at the U.S. Department of State for a decade, said that "when I was in government I couldn't accept a lunch over $20. Now anyone can give our next president millions."
Predicting that "this is going to end VERY badly for everyone except Donald Trump and his cronies," journalist Jeff St. John said that "it is a scandal and an outrage."
The meme coin announcement came as "the elite of the crypto world" gathered in Washington, D.C. for the first-ever Crypto Ball.
The president-elect did not attend the event, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the nominees for commerce and treasury secretary, Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, were there. Reporting on the gala, Reuterspointed out that the Trump "courted crypto campaign cash with promises to be a 'crypto president,' and is expected next week to issue executive orders aimed at reducing crypto regulatory roadblocks and promoting widespread adoption of digital assets."
Trump is no stranger to ethics scandals. As Mother Jonesdetailed:
The meme coin is just the latest in a bizarre line of grifty, super-weird takes on "merch." Last February, Trump showed off gold "Never Surrender High-Tops" for $399 at Sneaker Con, which had Fox Newsapplauding his appeal to Black voters. In March, he began endorsing the $59.99 "God Bless the USA Bible," which includes the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and handwritten lyrics to the chorus of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." (Trump's inaugural committee has confirmed that he will not be using one of these Bibles to swear the presidential oath of office on Monday.) In August, Trump released a new round of his "baseball card" NFTs.
S.V. Dáte, a senior White House correspondent at HuffPost, highlighted Sunday that during the Republican's first term, "Trump's D.C. hotel was a convenient way for foreign and domestic lobbyists to put cash directly into his pocket."
"This crypto thing is next level. Anyone on the planet can put money directly into his pocket. Huge," Dáte added. "The efficiency here is a thing of beauty. With a hotel, you have all the costs of owning the property as well as paying cleaning staff, front desk staff, and so on. This selling of fake money is almost pure profit."
The Trump Organization sold the D.C. hotel in 2022, but The Wall Street Journalreported earlier this month that his "real estate company is in talks to reclaim" the property.
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