Donald Trump, the former US president who is on track for a White House rematch with president Joe Biden this year, has embraced bitcoin in recent months — forcing the Biden administration to pivot toward the potential cryptocurrency .
Bitcoin prices have soared since the dramatic collapse of major bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange FTX in late 2022, with Trump and Biden warned it may be the only other way to save the dollar America .
Now, after wild speculation this week that the Trump campaign could be behind a new viral cryptocurrency, a series of leaks have refuted the claims – sending prices of Bitcoin rivals plummet.
On Monday, a cryptocurrency called trumpcoin and using the ticker DJT was linked to Trump by the media company Pirate Wires, led by Mike Solana, who is also vice president of venture capital firm Founders Fund by Peter Thiel, creating and leading.
“Every conversation, Trump will release an official token—DJT,” the Pirate Wires X account posted, adding that Trump’s 18-year-old son Barron is “leading the charge.” Solana retweeted the statement, calling it a "scoop" and adding that he "did not speak directly to Trump, assumed this was clear. Just reporting what I know through sources. "
The price of DJT, which launched just two months ago, jumped about 300% after the announcement, and traders are betting that the price could go much higher if the Trump campaign is actually behind it be confirm.
However, after denying his involvement, outraged businessman Martin Shkreli admitted in leaked messages sent to a blockchain detective nicknamed ZachXBT and later on a space broadcast. X that he was behind memecoin DJT — causing its price to crash.
Shkreli, a convicted pharmaceutical executive who made headlines for rising drug prices nearly 10 years ago and earned himself the nickname “pharma bro,” has become an influential figure. affect the cryptocurrency since its release in 2022.
“I have 1000 pieces of evidence that I created with [Trump's son] Barron,” Shkreli, who has directly denied involvement in memecoin, wrote to ZachXBT in a leaked message. ZachXBT has accepted a $150,000 bounty for the identity of DJT's creator offered by crypto analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.
Meanwhile, DL News reported an "insider" in Trump's campaign denied they had any involvement.
However, Shkreli continues to claim that he created the bitcoin rival in collaboration with Trump's youngest son Barron, adding during the X-space broadcast that Barron holds the majority of the cryptocurrency and is sole beneficiary of the project.
Trump has turned to bitcoin and cryptocurrency in recent weeks after making millions from a series of cryptocurrency-based digital trading cards (NFTs) that put him in stark contrast to his anti-corruption stance. Biden administration cryptocurrency. Trump announced his support for cryptocurrency in late May and began accepting campaign donations in bitcoin, ethereum, solana, dogecoin and shiba inu.
Earlier this month, Trump reportedly launched a cryptocurrency charm offensive during a Silicon Valley fundraiser hosted by investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, Reuters reported . “He said he would be the president of cryptocurrency,” Trevor Traina, a San Francisco-based technology executive and former Trump ambassador to Austria, was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
Ryan Selkis, founder of data provider Messari and a vocal Trump supporter, put the odds of DJT having legitimate links to Trump at "50-50" before Shkreli's messages were leaked.
David Bailey, the chief executive of Bitcoin Magazine who has claimed to be advising the 2024 Trump election campaign on bitcoin and cryptocurrency, has warned that if the Pirate Wires claim is false, it could scared Trump and turned him away from cryptocurrencies.
“If the DJT Solana meme is fake, whoever propagated it needs to be defamed and kicked out of our industry forever,” Bailey posted to looks [bad] and signals to X. the chairman and his team, we are a liability, not an asset.”
