- NFT marketplace Magic Eden has announced a new Trump-themed wallet is under development in collaboration with the team behind the $TRUMP memecoin.
- Initially Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump declared they were not aware of this wallet and the Trump Organisation had no involvement — it now appears though the collaboration is real.
- Donald Trump Jr. says the Trump family’s sudden embrace of crypto came “out of necessity” after being de-banked by mainstream financial institutions — others suggest it’s more about monetising the presidency.
The NFT marketplace, Magic Eden, has announced a new $TRUMP wallet is under development in collaboration with the team behind the presidential memecoin. The wallet is not yet available but a waitlist has been launched, with Magic Eden offering up to US$1 million in $TRUMP token rewards for users who sign up early and refer others.
The wallet, which is billed as the “first and only wallet for true Trump fans”, will be Donald Trump branded and allow users to hold and trade $TRUMP and other cryptocurrencies — it’s expected to launch over the US summer.
Following Magic Eden’s announcement, both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump quickly declared they were not aware of this new wallet and the Trump Organisation was not involved in any way.
“The Trump Organization has zero involvement with this wallet product. @EricTrump and I know nothing about it. Stay tuned World Liberty Financial @worldlibertyfi, which we have been working tirelessly on, will be launching our official wallet soon,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a post on X / Twitter.
“I run @Trump and I know nothing about this project! @worldlibertyfi $Trump @AmericanBTC,” Eric Trump added in a separate post.
Despite these denials, the official Trump meme X/Twitter account eventually posted about Magic Eden’s announcement, indicating the team behind $TRUMP are indeed involved in some capacity.
Molly White, the journalist who first broke the story of the planned Trump wallet, said the Trump sons’ denials of involvement may have been the result of a communication breakdown between Bill Zanker, the head of Fight Fight Fight LLC (the organisation with primary responsibility for the $TRUMP memecoin) and the Trump Organisation itself.
The Trump Organisation-affiliated entity, CIC Digital, is one of the largest holders of $TRUMP tokens, making the Trump Organisation’s lack of awareness of the wallet project even more unusual.
Related: Cheap Food and A $TRUMP Cap: VIP Crypto Dinner Leaves President’s Guests Feeling Cheated
Trump Family Crypto Links Expanding as Corruption Concerns Mount
The planned $TRUMP wallet deepens the Trump family’s already substantial links to the crypto industry, which now includes the $TRUMP memecoin, $MELANIA memecoin, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and the stablecoin USD1.
Speaking to CNBC, Donald Trump Jr. claimed the Trump family’s headlong plunge into crypto just as his father assumed the presidency is all about fairness and avoiding discrimination, not about monetising the office for the family’s personal gain.
“I could call any single banker in New York City,” he said. “They’d pick up the phone, I’d be able to get a loan for whatever real estate project I was doing across the street. Then we got into politics, and all of a sudden they wouldn’t take your call. You couldn’t get financing. We were debanked.”
Trump Jr. claimed the family’s embrace of decentralised finance was “out of necessity” following their alleged de-banking.
Others aren’t convinced. Commenting on Trump’s crypto dinner last week, in which top $TRUMP holders attended an exclusive event with the President, Columbia Law professor Richard Briffault told The Guardian:
Trump is marketing access to himself as a way to profit his memecoin. People are paying to meet Trump and he’s the regulator in chief. It’s doubly corrupt. This is unprecedented. I don’t think there’s been anything like this in American history.
Richard Briffault, Columbia Law professorRelated: GENIUS Act Anti-Corruption Amendment Planned to Foil Trump Stablecoin Profiteering
Democrats in the House and Senate are also concerned and have begun attempts to limit the scope of Trump’s alleged crypto corruption.
Last week senior Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters tabled the “Stop TRUMP In Crypto Act” which aims to stop senior government officials from creating and selling their own cryptocurrencies while in office. In the Senate Democrats have recently sought amendments to stablecoin legislation, known as the GENIUS Act, to prevent the president from personally profiting from stablecoin regulation.
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