Author: Brayden Lindrea, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Baishui, Golden Finance
Martin Shkreli, aka “Pharma Bro,” now claims that Donald Trump’s 18-year-old son, Barron Trump, launched the TrumpCoin (DJT) token with his father’s approval and holds the private keys to its smart contract address.
Shkreli, who served more than six years in prison for securities fraud, claims Barron Trump approached him in April about launching a Solana-based token — now worth $146 million, according to Birdseye data.
Barron Trump and his representatives have not yet made a public statement on the matter.
During an X Spaces hosted by Mario Nawfal, Shkreli claimed that he was only assisting his “friend” Barron Trump with advice on the token issuance, but was not actively involved in deploying the token itself.
Instead, he claimed that Barron Trump was the true creator of DJT, adding that crypto influencer “Ansem” was also involved.
“I taught some people how to connect, but they pushed the button, not me. Trump holds the key, not me,” Shkreli said in an X post. On X Spaces on Tuesday, Shkreli hinted that 10 people were involved in the token sale.
“I didn’t act alone.”
He also claimed that Barron Trump contacted cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to discuss the possibility of including DJT on the list.
He also claimed that Donald Trump not only knew about the DJT token, but “approved of it.”
"I have Barron's receipt saying his dad approved it."
Shkreli tried to bolster his argument by bringing “Mongolian Prince” into X-space—a teen with fewer than 500 X-fans who also allegedly worked with Shkreli.
Mongolian Prince was visibly shy, and when an audience member asked him if Barron had created the tokens and if he had the private keys, he responded with “hmm.”
“Who deployed the contract,” another audience member asked. The Monologue Prince responded, “Barron.”
“[Barron] wanted to do something special and meaningful, and we all wanted to help him.”
Source: Pastry ETH
Mongolian Prince claims he recently met with Barron Trump in Florida, but according to Mongolian Prince, his account of Donald Trump’s alleged involvement is far less clear.
Mongolian Prince claims that before the DJT token launch, Barron showed his Solana-based Phantom wallet to his father, who reportedly just laughed it off.
His seven-hour X Spaces comes a day after blockchain detective ZachXBT received a $150,000 reward from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence for allegedly identifying Shkreli as the creator of the DJT token.
Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, accused Shkreli of “trying to put Barron in jeopardy” in an effort to clear his own name.
Several X Spaces viewers said Shkreli's version of events made sense. Others disagreed, claiming Barron Trump wouldn't be stupid enough to risk creating controversy for his father in an election year.
Shkreli was convicted in federal court of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy in 2017. He served nearly seven years in prison and paid about $70 million in fines.
Some have suggested Shkreli's recent involvement may have violated the conditions of his parole, although Shkreli denies this.
“Read the law, idiot,” Shkreli said in response to the X-account “BORED,” which has 1.6 million followers, which said he would return to prison.
