Public Citizen claims Trump memecoin may violate federal law

U.S. consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), calling for an investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s official memecoin might constitute a violation of federal laws that prohibit the President from soliciting gifts.

The complaint raised concerns over the potential for foreign state actors to anonymously purchase the memecoin, which could be considered gifting the president.

The memecoin, which operates on the Solana blockchain, was launched at the Crypto Ball (NYSE:BALL) in Washington on the Friday before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. The token, listed as TRUMP, saw a significant trading surge, reaching a fully diluted valuation exceeding $75 billion, momentarily outpacing DOGE, the largest memecoin by market cap.

However, the value of TRUMP plummeted approximately 76% following the debut of Melania Trump’s own memecoin, MELANIA, which itself has dropped around 88% from its peak, as reported by The Block’s Prices Page.

Public Citizen’s Bartlett Naylor and Dr. Craig Holman, in their letter to the DOJ and OGE, pointed out that while the President is allowed to receive gifts, soliciting them is against the law. They allege that Trump’s promotion of the Trump memecoin through posts on various platforms on January 17, January 20, and January 21 appears to breach this regulation.

The official memecoin website indicates that although the product is not distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization, owns 80% of it. CIC Digital is entirely owned by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, of which Donald Trump is the sole beneficiary, according to Naylor and Holman.

Public Citizen suggests that the memecoin does not offer an investment or tangible product in return for money, but rather a "digital blockchain receipt," likening it to a gift that would personally benefit Trump.

In their request, Public Citizen urged the DOJ and OGE to consider ending the memecoin sale and to mandate the return of funds if they determine that the TRUMP token represents an impermissible solicitation of gifts.

At the time of the report, TRUMP was trading at $18.66 with a market capitalization of $3.7 billion, as per The Block’s Official Trump Page. The Block has reached out for comments to The White House, the DOJ, the OGE, and the Trump Meme project, but responses have not been made public at this time.

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