More Than Half of the Major Holders of Trump Meme Coin Are From Foreign Trading Platforms

Author: Leonardo Nicoletti, Anthony Cormier, David Kocieniewski

Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News

More than half of the major holders of Trump Meme Coin are from foreign trading platforms that claim to ban American users, indicating that many buyers are from outside the United States.

Trump is a cryptocurrency that President Trump began promoting just days before Inauguration Day. Sales of Trump tokens have surged in the past two weeks following an unprecedented promotion: More than 200 of the largest token holders will be invited to a May 22 dinner at Trump’s Virginia golf club, while the top 25 holders will be eligible for an exclusive pre-dinner reception and what the Trump Token website describes as a “VIP” tour.

Now, a Bloomberg News analysis shows that all but six of the top 25 holders registered on the site’s leaderboard used foreign exchanges that claimed not to accept U.S. residents. At least 56% of the top 220 holders on the list used similar offshore exchanges. The prevalence of these potential foreign buyers echoes congressional Democrats’ concerns about the ethics of promoting tokens with the promise of access to the president. It also raises questions about how the promotional dinner attendees, whose public identities can be linked only to a username consisting of a few letters, will be vetted.

Most of the Trump Token holders may be outside the United States

The value of tokens currently held by the 220 cryptocurrency wallets registered on the TRUMP leaderboard (by where the wallet holders are likely to be located). 76% of the value of tokens held in the top 220 wallets may belong to foreign owners because these wallets use trading platforms that are not available to US residents. Data source: Bloomberg analysis of SolScan data. (Note: Data as of 10 am EST on May 5. Usernames are listed on the TRUMP token website and are set by wallet holders when they register for the dinner promotion. One wallet that is still in the top 25 of the leaderboard website is not listed here because it sold almost all of its tokens on May 3)

In the fine print on the website, organizers say attendees must pass a background check. “We will also review your wallet for KYC and compliance purposes,” the website reads. “You will be having dinner with the President of the United States!” But the website does not explain how such a review will be conducted.

Promoters of the TRUMP token did not respond to requests for comment, nor did White House officials.

In order to appear on the dinner leaderboard, people who bought TRUMP coins must register on its website, which says it will rank them based on the number of tokens they hold and how long they have been held. Many large holders have not yet registered. But another analysis by Bloomberg of all the largest buyers (whether on the leaderboard or not) shows that more than half of this broader group of buyers are also from foreign trading platforms.

It’s possible that some U.S. buyers have found ways to get around the ban by using foreign exchanges, such as using virtual private networks (VPNs) to hide U.S. IP addresses. Most exchanges said they took steps, such as collecting personal information from users, to try to prevent such circumvention. The three foreign exchanges most commonly used by big TRUMP token holders to fund their accounts or buy TRUMP coins are Binance, Bybit and OOEX, all of which have imposed restrictions on U.S. users. Bloomberg’s analysis found that six holders on the TRUMP token leaderboard made purchases on OOEX before it launched its trading platform in the U.S. on April 15. A spokesperson for OOEX said the company had not allowed U.S. residents to make purchases before then. Representatives for Binance and Bybit did not respond to requests for comment.

Two of the three trading platforms have previously violated US law. In November 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to violating federal anti-money laundering and sanctions laws due to poor internal controls and paid more than $4 billion to the United States. Ouyi pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering violations in February and paid more than $420 million.

This is not the first time that a Trump-related cryptocurrency project has attracted a large number of foreign investors.

Justin Sun, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency entrepreneur, became an advisor to the project after announcing he had purchased tens of millions of dollars worth of tokens of World Liberty Financial (WLF), another cryptocurrency project promoted by the Trump family. Sun said at the time that he did not expect to receive any benefits from Trump for the investment. Sun may also be a major holder of TRUMP tokens, according to a Bloomberg analysis of cryptocurrency wallet transactions.

World Liberty is promoting a stablecoin that will be used to facilitate transactions between Binance and an investment firm founded by the Abu Dhabi government, one of the company’s founders, Zach Witkoff, the