Trump’s Crypto Dinner Cost over $1 Million Per Seat on Average

Trump's growing involvement in crypto is stirring unease. While investors welcomed his support, many now fear he's prioritizing personal profit over industry stability.

President Donald Trump's continuing involvement in crypto is stirring unease as investors grow weary of the president's shifting priorities and family financial interests appearing to outweigh pressing policy goals.

The tipping point came Thursday night, when Trump hosted a lavish private dinner at his Northern Virginia golf club for the top 220 investors in his meme coin project, $TRUMP — including controversial crypto moguls and foreign nationals.

To win a seat at the table, the bidders had to pour an average of $1.79 million on Trump’s official cryptocurrency token, according to an analysis by the blockchain analytics company Nansen. In total, the 220 winners of the contest to meet Trump spent $394 million on his volatile cryptocurrency token, though some have sold portions of or all of their coins since the contest ended.

The amount varied significantly by spender, with the top seven bidders each spending more than $10 million and the bottom 24 each spending less than $100,000. A third of the bidders — 67 of them — spent more than a million dollars, the research shows.

The bottom tier of bidders began around $55,000, and the average winning bid was about $1,788,994.42.

The bidders' identities were not disclosed by the Trump campaign, and the president's son, Eric Trump, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the contest was closed on Wednesday night.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Intended to celebrate crypto's growing political clout, the event has instead fueled concerns about pay-to-play politics, foreign influence, and the blurring of lines between presidential authority and personal profit.

“It’s distasteful and an unnecessary distraction,” said Nic Carter, a pro-Trump investor and partner at Castle Island Ventures. “We’d rather see regulatory clarity than meme coin theatrics.”

Trump’s $TRUMP meme coin, launched just before his second inauguration, was billed as “a way for supporters to have fun.” But it’s proven far more potent — granting access to the president himself. The top 25 coinholders were invited to a private reception, with the top four awarded Trump-branded crypto watches worth $100,000 each.

The coin surged in value after the dinner contest was announced, though critics point to extreme volatility and a lack of transparency. One of the project’s creators is linked to the Trump Organization, which has reportedly earned hundreds of millions in trading fees.

Trump’s family financial entanglements with crypto are also sprawling. His daughter Ivanka Trump launched her own venture this spring, reportedly raising millions in a matter of days.

“Crypto is now one of the most significant sources of the Trump family’s wealth,” said James Thurber, a leading ethics expert at Johns Hopkins University.

Trump’s shift from open crypto skeptic to ardent supporter has been swift and surprising. In 2019, he tweeted that crypto wasn’t “real money” and was “used for illegal activity.” But by May 2024, after a Mar-a-Lago crypto summit and a high-dollar fundraiser at tech investor David Sacks’ home, he had completely flipped.

At a campaign rally in January, Trump declared that crypto was “critical to our financial strength” and pledged to continue rolling out new digital assets. He's also appointed crypto-friendly figures to top Cabinet roles, including Treasury Secretary Gary Gray and White House Chief of Staff Mike ведет Garland.

In March, Trump signed an executive order on federal cryptocurrency regulation, prioritizing a U.S.-led approach to digital assets despite concerns from Democrats about pay-to-play hiring practices in key administration roles.

The president's crypto endeavors have faced backlash from both sides of the aisle.

Trump’s personal ties are being used by Democrats to stall other legislation, arguing it opens the door to corruption.

"He's becoming a salesman-in-chief," said Thurber, who authored the book "Inside the White House: The Role of Presidential Assistants."

"And the buyers? They're billionaires with anonymous wallets."

Many mainstream crypto leaders are treading carefully. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong declined to comment on Trump’s ventures. Others have expressed quiet frustration that his family’s aggressive coin launches and business ties may erode hard-fought gains for regulatory clarity.

"Trump is hugging us to death," said Carter, who serves on the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

"He's made us a top agenda item, but at what cost? We're losing sight of the big picture."