President Donald Trump Hosts an Exclusive Dinner Today for the First 220 Holders of His Eponymously Named "TRUMP" Cryptocurrency

President Donald Trump hosts an exclusive dinner today for the first 220 holders of his eponymously named "TRUMP" cryptocurrency, a controversial class of cryptocurrency known as a "meme coin."

President Donald Trump is today hosting an exclusive dinner for the first 220 holders of his eponymously named "TRUMP" cryptocurrency, a class of cryptocurrency known as a “meme coin.”

The dinner, which some may see as a cash-for-access opportunity, will be held at the Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia. It is open to the first 220 people to hold any amount of the TRUMP cryptocurrency token.

Those on the cryptocurrency's telegram group were informed of the dinner in a message from an administrator on Thursday, who said: "Hello TRUMP Family, President Trump will be having dinner with the first 220 TRUMP holders at his golf club in Virginia on Thursday, October 20 at 7pm.

"If you are one of the first 220 TRUMP holders and would like to attend, please contact [email protected] by Monday, October 17 to RSVP. We will be in touch with further details."

The Trump Organization-affiliated entities hold 80 percent of the TRUMP cryptocurrency token, which launched in January 2025 and is currently valued at more than $3 billion.

Analysts say Trump's ownership of this cryptocurrency creates a potential conflict of interest against his support of the cryptocurrency industry at large. It is also noteworthy for the fact that it is a meme coin.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that are bought and sold as tokens, in a manner similar to foreign currency exchange. Some of the most famous cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.

Proponents say cryptocurrency can provide finance and exchange solutions to people who cannot access banking or offer a more equitable, private, and community-driven financial environment compared to traditional, centralized banking.

The cryptocurrencies with the biggest market capitalizations, or buy-in, may become popular because of their potential use cases, such as Bitcoin, whose supporters believe it could become a new store of wealth or act as a hedge against inflation.

With the right knowledge, anyone can create a cryptocurrency. It's up to the people who create them to decide the utility, security, and how it is sold.

However, the ease with which cryptocurrencies can be created presents other opportunities, some more nefarious than others.

Meme coins refer to a class of cryptocurrencies that may not have any real use case but typically generate word-of-mouth-driven investment based on the popularity of something else, such as a celebrity or an online trend or meme (hence the name).

While many of the most successful ones were released in the early 2010s, their success picked up dramatically around 2021 as cryptocurrency hit mainstream attention.

For example, DOGE, the namesake from which Elon Musk named the Department of Government Efficiency, is a cryptocurrency that was created as a joke, and is an emblem of a photo of a Shiba Inu hunting dog.

Although it started as a joke, DOGE has since become one of the highest-valued cryptocurrencies in the world, which is driven in part by adoption and investment from Elon Musk. Despite its popularity, the project's utility has not advanced significantly.

These types of cryptocurrencies are often created quickly to hop on the back of profitable trends. For example, DOGE's success led to a host of other successful meme coins with thematic similarities, such as Shiba Inu, Baby Doge Coin, and Floki (named after Elon Musk's dog).

Meme coins typically do not generate long-term value. Their prices usually spike based on word-of-mouth, then quickly plummet as interest dies down. This high-risk approach, which has nonetheless attracted millions of investors hoping to get rich quickly, has opened the door to scams that have cost billions of dollars.

The most common of these scams are known as “pump and dumps” where a cryptocurrency's creator holds onto most of their currency's supply, creates excitement and hype around its release and then, when enough investors have bought in, sells their share, sinking the value of the cryptocurrency.

While “pump and dumps” can be organized around traditional financial instruments like stocks and shares, poor meme coin regulation, anonymity, and trend-based popularity have empowered fraudsters.

Professor Gerard Comizio, Associate Director and Professor of the Business Law Program at Washington College of Law, told Newsweek meme coins are viewed by critics as a “risky investment at best, and at worst, a new form of Ponzi scheme.”

“The offering of the coin is preceded by a lot of initial interest and hype fueled by the A-lister or celebrity status and social media presence associated with the originator of the coin,” Comizio said.

“The hype can cause the coin to initially skyrocket in price as new investors respond to the hype and jump in to buy it, but this growth is usually not sustainable since the meme coin price depends on a continued pipeline of new investors.

“