Donald Trump Jr., President Trump’s oldest son, says he was not involved in the development of the (CRYPTO: $TRUMP) meme coin that was launched shortly before the January inauguration.
“I wasn’t involved in the meme coin,” Trump Jr. said in an interview on CNBC. “I’m more focused on the %Stablecoin, the %Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) mining.”
The $TRUMP meme coin has drawn widespread criticism in political and business circles amid worries that it could serve as a backdoor to enrich and bribe the U.S. president.
Meme coins are a cryptocurrency fueled by social media and celebrity hype rather than functional utility. They often trade in volatile patterns, shooting higher and then crashing.
Still, meme coins remain popular with individual retail investors and many crypto enthusiasts.
President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP token, 80% of which is controlled by the Trump Organization, has become the centerpiece of the family’s rapidly growing crypto empire.
The meme coin went live three days before the January inauguration, soaring to a $15 billion U.S. market capitalization before erasing those gains.
President Trump’s involvement in crypto has drawn criticism on ethical grounds, notably concerns that a sitting president with ties to digital tokens could create new avenues for influence peddling.
In May of this year, President Trump held a private dinner for the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin where he spoke at length to the assembled crowd.
In the CNBC interview, Don Jr., as he’s known, defended his family’s push into crypto, saying it is a response to being frozen out of the traditional banking system.
Don Jr.’s comments came as news broke that President Trump is launching a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) through his Truth Social media company.
The $TRUMP meme coin is currently trading at $11.01 U.S. per digital token, down 75% from a peak of $45 U.S. reached in January of this year.
