For weeks, rich people have been scooping up the Trump household’s cryptocurrency in hopes of amassing sufficient to qualify for certainly one of 220 seats at a dinner with President Donald Trump himself. Within the phrases of Trump’s personal web site: “The competition is fierce. Own $TRUMP—or watch from the sidelines.” Now, the leaderboard is remaining and the winners from world wide are set to descend on Washington, D.C., to rub shoulders with the world’s strongest man. So, who’s going?
Whereas the leaderboard is public, the identification of every winner—obscured by pseudonymous blockchain addresses—just isn’t. However an evaluation by Fortune revealed that 18 out of those high 25 holders have interacted with Binance, a overseas crypto change that excludes People, which means they’re doubtless overseas nationals.
In the meantime, a number of the winners—the highest 25 of whom are entitled to attend an “ultra-exclusive private VIP Reception”—have publicly recognized themselves or been recognized by a crypto analytics agency. Listed here are three company doubtless slated to go to the “Gala Dinner,” which critics have lambasted as an unprecedented instance of corruption.
Chinese language crypto billionaire Justin Solar
With greater than $18 million in Trump’s memecoin, in accordance with Monday costs, the highest spot on the leaderboard is recognized just by the identify “SUN.” The crypto analytics companies Arkham Intelligence and Nansen have stated that the pockets is linked to HTX, a crypto change for which the billionaire Justin Solar serves as international adviser.
Neither Solar, who advised Forbes in March that his web price exceeds $40 billion, nor HTX responded to requests for remark.
The billionaire is a controversial determine within the crypto trade. Born in China, Solar based Tron, a blockchain that hosted 58% of all illicit exercise in crypto in 2024, in accordance with a report from crypto analytics agency TRM Labs. (Illicit crypto volumes on Tron, nonetheless, declined by $6 billion from the yr prior.)
Solar has discovered himself within the midst of quite a few crypto debacles. Most lately, he allegedly pushed crypto commerce outlet CoinDesk to spike a narrative on how the crypto billionaire purchased and ate a $6.2 million banana.
Singapore crypto agency MemeCore
With about $17.5 million in Trump’s memecoin, the second largest holder on the leaderboard is the Singaporean crypto startup MemeCore, in accordance with public posts from the agency and Nansen.
Based in January 2024, the agency is constructing a blockchain for memecoins, or cryptocurrencies created as jokes with none inherent worth, Ting Hsu, MemeCore’s chief enterprise growth officer, advised Fortune. Trump himself is without doubt one of the most “iconic” memes, she stated.
Hsu didn’t share precisely how the corporate is funding its Trump crypto investments, however she did say a number of the cash got here from the corporate’s “internal treasuries” in addition to from one of many startup’s nameless cofounders, whose identification she declined to share. That nameless founder will attend the dinner with Trump on Could 22, in accordance with Hsu.
The Memecore govt didn’t know who else was planning to attend the dinner and was additionally curious to see the visitor checklist. “Why [do] you guys want to join this?” she requested.
Australian investor Kain Warwick
Whereas he’s not one of many high 25 largest Trump memecoin holders, Kain Warwick, an Australian crypto investor, has made the highest 220, in accordance with The New York Occasions. (Warick didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Fortune.)
The founding father of the crypto firm Infinex, Warwick was taking part in basketball together with his children on a weekend afternoon in January when he noticed on social media that the forty seventh president had apparently launched his personal memecoin, in accordance with his X account.
He didn’t know whether or not the cryptocurrency was legitimately Trump’s and labored feverishly to confirm that it was actual. He finally did, invested some cash, and went again to taking part in together with his youngsters.
However, as he was taking his children to the seaside, he doubled his guess. “Yesterday was a once-in-a-career opportunity,” he wrote, reflecting in the future afterward Trump’s cryptocurrency launch.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
