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The Almighty Buck Republicans Politics

Trump Sons Plan Crypto Startup (politico.com) 203

To make America the "crypto capital of the planet," former U.S. President Donald Trump promised crypto-friendly policies, writes Politico, which "could have a new beneficiary: his own family." Trump has vowed to enact an array of pro-crypto policies in a bid to win votes — and campaign cash — from digital asset enthusiasts in recent months. Now, he's weaving the overtures into his pitch for his sons' forthcoming startup... It remains unclear what the Trump sons' crypto venture will look like. They have been teasing their plans to launch it for weeks, in part by positioning it as an alternative to the use of big banks.... ["Be defiant," reads the tagline on their World Liberty Financial home page — with nothing more than its name and the words "Coming soon."]

Trump's sons took over control of their father's business, the Trump Organization, after he became president in 2017, but he retained ownership of the company... It is unclear whether the crypto startup would be launched as part of the Trump Organization or as a separate entity. Either way, ethics experts and watchdogs say the crypto business could create the appearance of a conflict of interest if Trump wins back the White House this fall... From an "optics perspective, it's terrible," said Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush and later ran for Congress as a Democrat. But he said it wouldn't violate any ethics laws.

The family venture is the latest way Trump has embraced the digital asset industry, which is pouring more than $160 million into the 2024 elections as it seeks to help elect allies up and down the ballot. Trump has also marketed his own line of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are digital images of the former president that fans can purchase for $99... Trump's NFT sales could also raise ethics concerns, said Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington....

"[P]rior conflicts and illegalities took advantage of preexisting loopholes," said Norman Eisen, an ethics lawyer who served in the Obama White House and later helped build the first impeachment case against Trump. "Here, Trump appears to be promising to create the loopholes while his family is simultaneously designing a business venture to exploit them."

The article notes that Trump promoted his son's crypto venture on X this week with audio from Trump's speech at a crypto conference in July. "He first revealed his pro-crypto leanings — after previously deriding digital currency — at a Mar-a-Lago event in May with supporters who bought his crypto-linked digital trading cards..."

"Trump is also facing new questions about what he would do with his stake in the parent company of the social media service Truth Social," the article adds. (Although this week the stock hit a new low. After losing 50% of its value in six weeks, it's dropped below $20 per share for the first time since it started publicly trading...)
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Trump Sons Plan Crypto Startup

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  • Uh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:22PM (#64753822)

    Blatantly using the office of the presidency for profit. You guys are OK with that? What does this crypto offer besides "my dad was president" and "if my dad becomes president he'll tip the scales in my favor".

    • Re:Uh (Score:5, Interesting)

      by jmccue ( 834797 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:27PM (#64753830) Homepage

      Trump fans will buy anything related to him, so yet another nice scam for them to run.

      But I still see crypto as a ponzi scheme, so what does one call a ponzi scheme of a ponzi scheme ?

      • another level of the pyramid - until you get to the turtles.
      • & don't forget the very, very short memories: "The 4 Biggest Losers From Donald Trump's $5.3 Billion Stock Crash" https://www.investors.com/etfs... [investors.com]
        • Profits were exponential until liberals and regulators seized his manhood!!

        • Everyone except the regulators knows that this was a scheme. Most assume this was to pay off the massive upcoming legal fees and judgements, but others assumed this was how they could support the campaign without having direct donations. Though it's pretty obvious that it's the former and none of it is going to any campaign.

        • Don't forget his "university". But we are willing to overlook his tendency to run his institutions and empires into the ground just as long he makes the people we don't like go away and no longer offend our eyes. :-/
      • Re:Uh (Score:5, Funny)

        by Registered Coward v2 ( 447531 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @03:32PM (#64754012)

        But I still see crypto as a ponzi scheme, so what does one call a ponzi scheme of a ponzi scheme ?

        A Trump company

      • Re:Uh (Score:4, Interesting)

        by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @03:36PM (#64754030) Journal

        Trump fans will buy anything related to him, so yet another nice scam for them to run.

        Philosophically, what does one mean by a scam?

        I mean sure this is a money-for-nothing scheme playing off a name for money with no plan for return.

        But scam implies deception. At some point can one consider that there is little to no deceit involved? I mean it's not like Trump & family have been shy about lying continuously about everything under the sun. Trump has gone on about how he's been bankrupt many times in clever ways. He's even bragged, yes bragged about being convicted for felony falsification of business records.

        No one who buys into this scheme is going to be unaware of who Trump is. Can one really say there is deception involved if all parties are aware? Can one, on a deep philosophical level really call it a scam?

        Bloody bonkers is what it is (also a scam).

        • Re:Uh (Score:4, Informative)

          by dfghjk ( 711126 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @03:46PM (#64754070)

          "No one who buys into this scheme is going to be unaware of who Trump is."
          False. A third of the public does not know who Trump is.

          "Can one really say there is deception involved if all parties are aware?"
          Yes, a bad deception is still a deception. And not all parties are aware.

          "Can one, on a deep philosophical level really call it a scam?"
          Yes, on any level one can.

      • Re:Uh (Score:4, Insightful)

        by e3m4n ( 947977 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @03:39PM (#64754048)

        Anyone buying any form of crypto is a fool. You might as well be selling Minecraft Swords with a +3 to slashing damage. I like my currency nice and analog.

      • Whatever it is it's turtles all the way down.
      • A new term: a trumpf.

    • Re:Uh (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:32PM (#64753854)

      Ever see video of Rajneesh (the cult leader in Oregon) driving in his convoy of Rolls Royces while his followers all dressed in red clothing fawn at his sight? Hell the Simpsons even did a parody episode about it.

      That's MAGA.

    • Re:Uh (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:40PM (#64753880)

      The people living in a double wide grabbing their chest like Fred Sanford when they hear of Kamala's capital gains tax increases.

    • Blatantly using the office of the presidency for profit. You guys are OK with that?

      He had a damn presidential gift shop running for the entire duration of his previous administration. At one point, there was even a gold accented MAGA hat Christmas ornament. A surprisingly large portion of the electorate clearly has no problem with the president literally acting like a Ferengi.

    • He's following a grand tradition in 'Murican politics; increase his popularity among certain groups, in this case the radical libertarian crowd, & enriching himself. Who thinks that Trump won't want to claim a good share for himself if it makes any money & let his sons take the hit if it doesn't?

      Trump's lived his whole life so far like this. I doubt he's even thinking about it by now, it's just second nature to him. & you can be sure he & his sons don't have a clue what crypto is.
      • Who thinks that Trump won't want to claim a good share for himself if it makes any money & let his sons take the hit if it doesn't?
         

        Agree 100%. Trump said of 2022 GOP candidates (verbatim quote): "I think if they win, I should get all the credit, and if they lose, I should not be blamed at all.” This scheme is no different, and Trump will absolutely grab all he can if it goes up, and throw anyone (including his sons) under the bus if it doesn't.

      • The difference was the sheer blatant openness of it all. His nick-nacks you could buy were assumed to just go to his campaign or re-election, those gold tennis shoes were for political ads (not legal bills, nosirree, because he'll be proven innocent any second now). Taking bribes on the side, out of the public eye, it's the gentlemanly way to make money while in office, only those third world dictators would be so crass as to openly enrich themselves. The powers that be under-estimated Trump's ability to

    • No, we're not ok with it. We weren't ok with it in 2016 either when it was blatantly obvious that this was one of the major reasons Trump was running for office (the other was to delay legal troubles). The problem is that there were many voters who naively thought that someone who is rich must have gotten that way through brains and hard work, rather than inheritance and grifting, and because the opponent foolishly assumed she had the win in the bag.

  • Damn (Score:5, Informative)

    by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:26PM (#64753826)

    I'm too honest. It seems you can fleece the MAGA crowd to no end and they'll still ride your dick for free. https://www.forbes.com/sites/t... [forbes.com]

    Here I am working for a living when I could be out convincing those with far less than me to hand over their cash to hurt liberals. Oh well at least my Trump sneakers and Trump bible are still holding up.

    • Re:Damn (Score:5, Insightful)

      by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @03:00PM (#64753924)
      Trump has alerted con men everywhere that right wing politics is the way to get an inexhaustible supply of suckers for your cons.
      • They're usually people driven by emotions over reason. So yes, a lovely target-rich environment for a con artist.

    • Here I am working for a living when I could be out convincing those with far less than me to hand over their cash to hurt liberals.

      You could, but step #1 requires that you already be sitting on a relatively decent size pile of cash to promote your scheme in the first place. Just sticking a box out in front of your home with "Insert cash to own the libz!" written on it is highly unlikely to result in a windfall.

    • by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      To be fair, he was doing this dumb shit long before he was president. Remember when he was selling steaks? That’s been the Trump scam since day one. Come up with a shitty product and sell it as a luxury item. This goes back to the 90s

    • It seems you can fleece the MAGA crowd to no end ... Trump Supporters Scammed By Novelty Items—‘Trump Bucks’—Advertised As Legal Tender [forbes.com]

      Read the article...
      Pro Tip: Never buy things from, or invest in, a company with the words "Patriot", "Freedom" or "Trump" in the name -- or with a Trump recommending and/or profiting from it.

    • Then sooner or later the cops will come around and pick you up and arrest you. The Trump boys get away with this because their attentionally linked to the son of another billionaire. The upper class takes care of their own but if you're not already in that class it's like George Carlin used to say, it's a big club and you ain't in it. And you'll find you're not made of Teflon
  • by TheMiddleRoad ( 1153113 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:29PM (#64753836)

    I want to Make America Great Again, Again. I know where my money is going, into the black hole of Trump's retarded sons. To be clear, I don't mean Barron. I mean Captain Weak Chin and Admiral Confusion. There's that other guy, totally not corrupt. I think the Saudi's own him. He's not Trump's spooge spawn, though.

    Looking forward to the troll ranking here, but you know I'm being informative.

    • I want to Make America Great Again, Again. I know where my money is going, into the black hole of Trump's retarded sons. To be clear, I don't mean Barron. I mean Captain Weak Chin and Admiral Confusion. There's that other guy, totally not corrupt. I think the Saudi's own him. He's not Trump's spooge spawn, though.

      Looking forward to the troll ranking here, but you know I'm being informative.

      Not to say that Barron is an angel [politicalflare.com]. It takes a wisdom and restraint for the rich to raise well-adjusted offspring, qualities Trump aggressively lacks. There's a reason Jared Kushner is his favourite son.

      • That's why Kushner is the one to beware of. Corrupt and stupid are less of a problem than corrupt and smart.

    • To watch the Republicans in the house of representatives put out a 300 page Joe Biden impeachment document they were planning the drop right after the DNC only for the fizzle out because Joe stepped aside.

      I can't even imagine how furious they must have been having all that hard work from 2 years of doing anything but their jobs to try and track down random nonsense related to Joe Biden's sons. Offer it's be completely pointless because the public no longer cares.

      I'm sure they had some hilarious Octo
  • They clearly learned their scamming from the master.
    • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:31PM (#64753850)

      They clearly learned their scamming from the master.

      It's not scamming. It's grifting. it's all the convicted felon has done his entire life. Why shouldn't his progeny do the same?

      • It's not scamming. It's grifting.

        What would you consider the difference?

        • by waspleg ( 316038 )

          There isn't one. Grifting is defined as small scale or petty. I would not count any of their scams as that. Trump Media (Truth Social) was worth 7 BILLION in valuation and that's a total scam. I don't know about now and don't care to look but that's not small scale.

          • Some of these things do seem petty. Ie, the gold sneakers - $399 each, with a limited number of 1,000 pairs. That's less than half a billion (minus production and marketing costs), but he has legal bills well above that, and the campaign (if you're naive enough to think the money goes there) needs vastly more than that.

            For a guy claiming he's super duper rich, this is small potatoes.

        • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @04:44PM (#64754212)

          It's not scamming. It's grifting.

          What would you consider the difference?

          A scam is defined as a fraudulent business scheme [cambridge.org]. For as many businesses of his that have failed, they were legitimate businesses. Until we find out he was laundering money for the Russian mob and others.

          Whereas a grift [cambridge.org] is more about tricking someone into them giving you their money.

          It's a subtle distinction, but when you look at everything he's done, it's been a grift. He's never used his own money. It's always someone else's, and that includes the $413 million he got from his dad [apnews.com] despite him claiming he's "self made". He's even using other people's money to pay his personal legal bills [nytimes.com]. Alternative link [spokesman.com].

        • Does the conman wear a nice suit or baggy trousers?

  • by GeekWithAKnife ( 2717871 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @02:31PM (#64753846)
    ...this is so surprising. Sounds like many idiots are going to lose more money soon. Fools and their money are quickly separated.
  • They CANNOT profit off the Trump name. It's a desecration of the sacred oath of office.

    Next thing you're going to tell me is Trump Jr. is a talentless """artist""" who sells his pieces for $500k a pop to foreigners who then have meetings with the big man himself. DISGUSTING FAMILY.

  • Calling All Ignorant Trumptards and Douchebags - an opportunity to lose ALL your money to Trump and his syphilitic sons has now presented itself!

    Get in line NOW for this amazing opportunity to go broke with the Trump ShitCoin!

  • Or what is the agenda here? Hmm. Maybe Trump needs money and wants in in the scam.

    • Or what is the agenda here? Hmm. Maybe Trump needs money and wants in in the scam.

      Rich people always need more money. Anybody who reaches a point where they think "okay, I've got enough money now, I'm good" usually isn't likely to ever end up rich in the first place, because you can still live pretty comfortably on a modest income.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Agreed. I think to intentionally get rich you have to have some rather serious defect.

    • 1. Money laundering service for his Russian buddies
      2. A way to scam even more money out of the MAGA cultists, which will go into his 'flee America' fund
      3. Just criminals being criminals, as per usual for the Trump family
  • I'm surprised he didn't do this sooner. Maybe too obvious?

    The only reason Trump isn't working at a a Magamart [youtube.com] is the Russians bailed him out in 2008 in exchange for a whole lotta money laundering. Which he got away with because he's the son of a billionaire.
    • Uh huh. And now the criminal Trump family is planning on launching what amounts to a massive money laundering business.
  • Trump Sons Plan Crypto Startup

    So Beavis and Butt-Head are starting a crypto startup? This promises to be amusing ...

    • Right up there with when B&B tried 'counterfeiting' money (to buy more nachos, if I remember correctly) by photocopying dollar bills -- on plain white paper -- and only the front of the bill.
  • Fred Trump was a KKK and Nazi sympathizer.
    Donald Trump organized an inspurrection as sitting president.
    Donald Trump, Jr and Eric Trump are crypto bros.

    What a fine bunch of human beings... Can you imagine a family in which the least hateful and nefarious members are crypto scammers because the others are even more terrible?

  • A family of criminals planning on engaging in something that is used more often by criminals than anyone else.
  • by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @06:46PM (#64754464) Homepage
    I hope Trump is brought to justice.
  • by jvkjvk ( 102057 ) on Sunday September 01, 2024 @07:40PM (#64754538)

    From an "optics perspective, it's terrible," said Richard Painter,

    OMG, since when has Trump ever been worried about "optics" in a normal sense?

    Has he seen *anything* Trump has been involved in, said and done?

    An "optics problem". Was it an optics problem when the Saudis gave Jared $2B? Didn't seem like one.

    How would this be any different? His cult don't care if he does anything illegal. If he's President he basically can't do anything illegal according to the SC now.

    Why TF would Trump ever care about an "optics perspective"? When has it ever hurt him before?

    • If he gets away with it, it's proof he's a powerful man to be followed. If he gets taken to court, it's persecution of the entire cult.

      Cults are like that, not much you can do with them except be prepared if they go nuts and wait for them to wake up when it's all over. Some of them will quietly nurse a grudge for the rest of their lives, some will deny they ever wore a MAGA hat, and a few will keep wearing them and demand the world change to accommodate their derangement.

I'd rather just believe that it's done by little elves running around.

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