Democratic Lawmakers Increase Scrutiny of Trump's Crypto Ventures

Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. have increased scrutiny of President Donald Trump's connections to the crypto industry.

Democratic members of the U.S. Congress are stepping up scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s connections to the crypto industry.

They pressed the Treasury Department to disclose any suspicious activity reports (SARs) tied to the president’s digital ventures.

What are the Trump-linked crypto ventures that Democrats are scrutinizing?

In a formal letter dated May 14th, Representatives Gerald Connolly, Joseph Morelle, and Jamie Raskin requested access to SARs filed since 2023.

This pertains to World Liberty Financial and the Official Trump token.

The letter begins,

“We write regarding the potential misuse of certain politically oriented fundraising ventures for fraudulent, corrupt, or other illegal purposes.”

It highlights concerns over multiple Trump-linked crypto ventures.

Specifically, World Liberty Financial and the president’s Solana [SOL]-based memecoin are the main subjects of the lawmakers’ scrutiny.

The correspondence noted allegations of bribery, influence-peddling, market manipulation, and deceptive practices targeting vulnerable Americans.

World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token initially struggled to raise funds but later saw an influx with the involvement of Justin Sun.

A prominent crypto figure, Sun is currently under scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

His participation in this venture has raised further concerns among the lawmakers.

The letter also flagged Trump and Melania-branded meme tokens. Trump has repeatedly endorsed his token on social media. The letter went on,

“Because the identities of the coin purchasers need not be publicly disclosed, there is no way to tell who is buying the coin, potentially allowing bad actors, including authoritarian governments and companies they control, to enrich the Trump family.”

What are the ongoing concerns?

Thus, as Trump’s crypto ventures expand, so do concerns over their ethical and regulatory implications.

In fact, previously too, his Solana-based memecoin ecosystem has triggered backlash from lawmakers.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff called for an ethics investigation into a controversial gala dinner linked to Trump’s token holders.

Though organizers now distance the event from the White House, questions persist about foreign influence and political favoritism.

Allegations of a “pay-to-play” model and hints of market manipulation continue to cloud the initiative, further intensified by the SEC’s cautious stance on enforcement.

In conclusion, the Democratic lawmakers defended their probe as an effort to assess whether new legislation is needed to prevent violations.

This includes campaign finance breaches, consumer protection failures, bribery, securities fraud, and other corruption-related offenses.

With concerns mounting in Washington, scrutiny of Trump’s crypto dealings is unlikely to fade anytime soon.