Economist and crypto critic Peter Schiff has called for a Congressional investigation into President Donald Trump.
Schiff alleges potential market manipulation following Trump’s announcement of a US Crypto Strategic Reserve.
Schiff Accuses Trump of Orchestrating a Crypto Pump-and-Dump
On Sunday, Trump unveiled plans for creating a US Crypto Strategic Reserve. He stated that it would include XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA). The President later added that Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other digital currencies would also be a part of the reserve.
The announcement triggered a sharp rally in these coins’ prices, reversing weeks of market declines. Nonetheless, this was short-lived. The crypto market experienced a sharp pullback, with the coins retracing much of their post-announcement gains.
Now, Schiff alleges that Trump’s announcement wasn’t about policy—it was a calculated “pump and dump” to benefit insiders with prior knowledge.
“Donald Trump, the first crypto President, just helped pull off the biggest crypto rug pull of all time,” Schiff wrote.
The economist questioned the authorship of the Truth Social posts that initially revealed the news. He called for a probe into who had prior knowledge of the announcement.
Schiff’s demands for an investigation include an audit of crypto purchases leading up to the announcement. He insists that authorities investigate how much money privy investors invested in the assets before the news broke, whether they cashed out and when, and how much profit they generated from the transactions.
Beyond financial gains, Schiff demands full disclosure of emails and text messages from Trump’s staff, family, campaign donors, and Truth Social employees that could expose alleged insider dealings.
That’s not all. To further back his claims, Schiff called out a post from Eric Trump, the President’s son. Recently, Eric Trump celebrated the timing of the announcement of the crypto reserve.
“I love the genius of announcing a strategic reserve on a Sunday, when traditional markets are closed and Wall Street sleeps,” the post read.
He saw this as a breakthrough moment for retail investors, finally giving them an edge over traditional finance (TradFi). He warned that the old system must adapt fast or risk fading away, as markets no longer operate on a rigid Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 schedule.
Schiff seized on this comment as possible evidence of wrongdoing.
“Eric Trump admits to the fraud? There has been no agreement on a strategic reserve. His post indicates that it was a planned pump and dump, deliberately leaked when volume was thin to maximize impact. The retail investors he conned into buying the tokens he pumped got screwed,” he said.
This comes after Schiff criticized the inclusion of XRP in the reserve. However, he wasn’t alone in doing so.
Many industry leaders questioned the addition of altcoins to the Crypto Strategic Reserve. They argued that BTC alone should form the backbone of any government-backed digital asset reserve.
Despite this, experts speculate that additional assets could be considered for future additions. The top picks include Chainlink (LINK), Ondo (ONDO), and Litecoin (LTC).
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