80% of Trump Coin for insiders, 100% grift: Coffeezilla
Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla on YouTube, has taken a critical look at Donald Trump’s recent coin launch, which he called a “historic scam.”
Indeed, President-elect Trump published a Truth Social article about the meme coin. He also released a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Phantom, the non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet backed by Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, has verified that it is real. Yet Findeisen wishes this weren’t true.
“I hope I wake up and find out that I was deeply rigged,” he said.
The YouTube detective, known for his scathing expose videos aimed at alleged crypto scams (i.e. Lucky Falcon Girl And Andrew Tate), fears that Trump’s latest crypto project is focused solely on enriching insiders while exploiting the president-elect’s MAGA supporters just under two days before the inauguration.
Below are the key takeaways from Findeisen’s breakdown:
- Launch of Trump Meme Coin: Trump — who has already launched the Liberty Global Financial (WLFI) with his sons last year – unveiled a new coin, dubbed Official Trump (ASSET). Findeisen criticizes the timing, suggesting it was a cynical attempt to take advantage of political hype in the run-up to the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony.
- Market capitalization and fees: The meme coin currently has a market capitalization of $13 billion. Despite this, Findeisen emphasizes that its intrinsic value is zero. Additionally, over $12 million was generated in fees from trading volume alone, highlighting the speculative nature of the coin.
- Lack of transparency: 80% of the piece belongs to the Trump camp, underlines Findeisen. Only 20% of Trump’s official content is publicly available. Of this 20%, 10% went to the liquidity pool and another 10% to public allocation. The distribution of allocations for the remaining 80% is particularly vague, with obscure labels like “CIC Digital 1, 2, 3, etc.” »
- Blocking periods: The 80% held by insiders will be gradually released over a period of three years, with the different groups experiencing lock-up periods varying from three to 12 months. This unlocking will coincide with Trump’s presidency, which he says adds a layer of exploitation.
- Likely losses: The real money will be made by insiders who knew about the launch in advance and entered the field, says Findeisen. The rest of the public will probably lose money.
Criticism of insider profits
Findeisen calls out the hypocrisy of using the presidency to promote a coin, saying it is an unprecedented conflict of interest.
“To call it a conflict of interest is like insulting everyone who has ever had a conflict of interest,” Findeisen says. “It’s so crazy to use the presidency in this way to pump a coin to enrich yourself, the insiders, and virtually everyone except your standard base.”
Findeisen also speculates that the Trump camp may backtrack or downplay its involvement once the backlash mounts.
Watch the full video below.
Even before the launch of the Trump meme coin, the Trump family’s involvement in the crypto world has already raised ethical questions, according to the New York Times.
The family helped launch WLFI, a crypto borrowing and lending platform, last fall. Although they are not owners or managers, the Trump family has a contract to pay to promote it.
The company gained traction after crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun joined the company as an advisor and purchased $30 million in tokens.
The company claims to have 20,000 token holders, but the tokens are non-resalable, meaning they have no immediate value. Even so, purchases by unpublicized investors are expected to generate millions of dollars in payments to the Trump family.
Trump, Bitcoin and Ethereum
Trump has already shown his influence in the crypto market, notably taking credit when Bitcoin (BTC) exceeded $100,000 after appointed Paul Atkins as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trump also owns up to $5 million in Ethereum (ETH), which has also increased in value since the election, the New York Times reported.
Under Atkins, the SEC will likely introduce rules that could increase the value of cryptocurrencies in general, particularly tokens tied to World Liberty Financial and Trump’s official coin.
These changes could potentially lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in additional payments for Trump and his family.
Post Comment