Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have called on SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to investigate President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin, citing an estimated $3.8 billion in losses sustained by nearly one million investors.
In a letter dated Monday, the lawmakers pointed to Trump’s recent financial disclosure showing he earned $636 million from the token, creating what they called a stark asymmetry between presidential profits and investor losses. The $TRUMP coin peaked above $46 before declining to its current price of roughly $1.47.
While all cryptocurrency trading involves risk, such a stark asymmetry raises questions about how the president made his cryptocurrency fortune, including through potentially fraudulent enrichment schemes with implications for market integrity and stability, the senators argued in their letter to Atkins.
The request comes at a critical juncture for crypto regulation in Washington. Negotiators on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act are awaiting the White House response to the latest revision of a contentious provision that would ban senior government officials from direct involvement in crypto projects. The bill has been stalled over this ethics question.
The SEC has already signaled it considers memecoins to be outside its regulatory jurisdiction. In an early staff statement under the Trump administration, the agency declared that memecoins have limited or no use or functionality and do not qualify as securities under the law. This position makes the lawmakers request more of a political statement than a likely regulatory action.
The $TRUMP token saw brief price spikes when its parent company announced dinner events at Trump Mar-a-Lago estate, with the president as keynote speaker, but those gains proved temporary both times. The token remains one of the most prominent examples of a politically connected digital asset.
The Clarity Act ethics provisions have become a flashpoint in broader crypto policy debates, with Republicans arguing the restrictions are overly broad and Democrats contending they are essential to prevent conflicts of interest. The White House response is expected to determine whether the bill advances or remains in limbo.
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