Martin Shkreli, a convicted securities fraudster and infamous pharmaceutical figure, has claimed his role in creating the meme coin – DJT. This Solana-based meme coin has been the center of heated debate due to its alleged connections with Barron Trump, son of Donald Trump.
If these rumors prove true, it would mark a groundbreaking moment for a US presidential candidate. Nevertheless, as of now, Trump’s camp has not officially confirmed these claims.
Martin Shkreli Bets $100 Million Claiming DJT is Not a Fake Meme Coin
Released from prison in 2022 after a six-year term, Shkreli immediately became active on social media platforms. He told on-chain sleuth ZachXBT that he holds “over 1,000 pieces of evidence” that he collaborated with Barron Trump to develop DJT. These assertions came to light during an X Spaces session Shkreli hosted, which followed a significant bounty announcement by Arkham Intelligence.
Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens
Arkham announced a $150,000 bounty for identifying the creator of DJT in reaction to Shkreli’s $100 million bet with a renowned crypto trader – GCR.
“Find definitive evidence of the creator of DJT. We will accept private proof for this bounty, but if accepted, that proof will be made public. The source must be original and not from elsewhere on the internet. You cannot claim this bounty by being the first to link to the news broken elsewhere,” Arkham stated.
Furthermore, during the X Spaces discussion, Shkreli mentioned he was “helping a friend” with the token’s launch in April. He revealed that about 10 people were directly involved, with another 40 to 50 being informed of the initiative. Importantly, he cited Barron Trump among those involved, further fueling speculation about the Trump family’s involvement.
The trading history of DJT has been rocky. After reaching a high of 0.04738, the token’s price has dropped by nearly 70%, now at 0.01282, according to DEX Screener.
This decline coincided with reports from Lookonchain, which exposed alarming insider trading activities connected to DJT.
“An insider bought a large amount of DJT before the announcement and made more than $1 million with a cost of only $9,400,” Lookonchain said.
This incident has sparked intense scrutiny within the crypto community, raising serious concerns about the ethical and legal standards surrounding DJT’s promotion and trading. In an interview with BeInCrypto, Felix Mohr, the Managing Partner at MohrWolfe, stated that the meme coin will shut down.
“Have we not seen this scenario play out before? Kanyecoin was shut down real quick when someone decided to use the rapper’s likeness for a meme coin. Any meme coin using the Trump brand without permission will be shut down even quicker,” Mohr told BeInCrypto.
Meanwhile, Kadan Stadelmann, Komodo’s CTO, told BeInCrypto that the matter might be taken to Court.
“Meme coin such as Shkreli’s is clear satire. Perhaps they ought to be protected by free speech laws. Perhaps some Supreme Court of the future will decide,” Stadelmann told BeInCrypto
Read more: 11 Top Solana Meme Coins to Watch in June 2024
The controversy began after Pirate Wires tweeted about DJT being an official crypto token from Trump. However, Mike Solana, Editor-in-Chief of Pirate Wires, later clarified that he had not communicated directly with any Trump family member and was merely relaying information from his sources.
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