Donald Trump‘s $TRUMP memecoin has seen investors lose 96 percent of their money. Despite this, Trump has announced plans to host a conference at Mar-a-Lago for top holders of the token. The event is being promoted as “THE MOST EXCLUSIVE CRYPTO & BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN THE WORLD!” and will feature speakers including several crypto executives, boxing legend Mike Tyson, and motivational coach Tony Robbins.
The event is drawing far less attention than a similar conference held last year, which triggered a buying frenzy among crypto traders and sparked outrage among Democrats. This year, the memecoin is down more than 95 percent from its January 2025 high, and investors have been increasingly vocal about their frustration with the token.
According to Politico, Morten Christensen, a crypto investor who still plans to attend the Mar-a-Lago event and was also at last year’s dinner, said, “Nobody likes it. People are losing on the coin, and they are vocal. They are the people on X like, ‘Fuck this coin’ or ‘It’s a scam.’ And they’re right, basically.”
The $TRUMP memecoin controversy runs deeper than just its falling price
Launched just days before Trump’s inauguration, the memecoin is overwhelmingly held by two entities: an affiliate of the Trump Organization and a company run by Bill Zanker, a longtime Trump business partner. Both collect fees on the memecoin’s trading, according to its website. The memecoin has struggled for much of the past year during a broad crypto market sell-off.
Trump’s other recent ventures have not done much better. Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, have dropped 75 percent since Trump’s inauguration. The company also announced on Tuesday that it was replacing Devin Nunes, a former Republican lawmaker, as CEO. Trump has faced criticism on multiple fronts lately, including his controversial statements on past U.S. military conflicts.
Also on Tuesday, Justin Sun, a once-major backer of World Liberty Financial, a crypto company with ties to the Trump family, filed a lawsuit against the company, according to BBC. Sun’s lawsuit claims that World Liberty, co-founded by Trump and his son Eric Trump, has “frozen” all of his WLFI tokens and taken away his right to vote on governance issues.
The No. 1 account on the Mar-a-Lago event’s leaderboard is listed under the name “Sun,” though a spokesperson for Sun did not respond to questions about whether the account belongs to him or if he will attend. But not all investors are going to the Mar-a-Lago event.
Ogle, a cybersecurity expert and crypto founder who does not publicly use his name, was a top 25 holder of the memecoin last year but has since sold all of his $TRUMP tokens and will not be attending. The event’s organizers did not respond to requests for comment, and the White House has previously dismissed claims that Trump faces conflicts of interest, saying he only acts in the American public’s best interests.
This pattern of the FBI leadership embarrassing the U.S. government under Trump’s administration has also drawn widespread criticism. Some investors attending the event still believe in the token’s potential. Vincent Deriu, a consultant from New York who will be in attendance, said, “The Trump memecoin is being slept on. People don’t realize it’s the memecoin, more or less, of the president of the United States.”
Deriu also said, “The token, if combined with Trump’s other businesses, could help create a new Trump ‘conglomerate’ that reaches across the technology, crypto, and financial industries.” Critics, however, see the event differently.
Public Citizen co-President Lisa Gilbert said the “shock value” is less than it was a year ago, and her group is not planning a protest outside the event this weekend. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said, “He’s normalized his corruption.
The Mar-a-Lago event is simply another way to generate more money for himself, profiting directly from his office. A lot of people have become inured to it.” The event is set to take place on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago, with a leaderboard on the event’s website showing 297 accounts that secured a spot.
Published: Apr 24, 2026 06:00 pm