We now know who won the contest to attend an intimate dinner with President Donald Trump by shopping for his cryptocurrency — and he is a well-recognized face to Securities and Change Fee regulators and regulation enforcement officers.
Justin Solar, a Chinese language-born crypto entrepreneur, confirmed in an X post Tuesday that he was behind the account, labeled “SUN,” that bought the most $TRUMP meme coin to sit at the president’s desk at a crypto-focused gala scheduled for Thursday.
“Honored to assist @POTUS and grateful for the invitation from @GetTrumpMemes to attend President Trump’s Gala Dinner as his TOP fan!” Solar wrote. “As the prime holder of $TRUMP, I’m excited to join with everybody, discuss crypto, and talk about the way forward for our business.”
He capped the submit with an American flag emoji.
Critics have blasted the dinner contest as potentially unconstitutional and a blatant alternative for corruption. Trump has not publicly commented on the accusations, and the Workplace of Authorities Ethics has declined to remark. A White Home official didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday.
Whereas Trump has not been as aggressive in straight selling cryptocurrencies as some marketing campaign backers in the business had hoped, his administration has deserted or paused many pending circumstances that had been introduced towards crypto entrepreneurs and companies.
That features Solar, who was charged in 2023 with market manipulation and providing unregistered securities. Regulators sought numerous injunctions towards him that might have largely prevented him from taking part in crypto in the U.S. The Verge, a tech business web site, had also reported Sun was the target of an FBI investigation.
However in February, the SEC, now managed by Trump appointees, agreed to a 60-day pause of the swimsuit so as to search a decision.
Two months earlier, Solar bought $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Monetary (WLF), the crypto enterprise backed by Trump and his household, the web site Widespread Info reported.
Ultimately, Solar grew to become the largest publicly identified investor in World Liberty after he introduced his funding complete to $75 million.
According to Bloomberg News, per the phrases of World Liberty’s monetary construction, 75% of the proceeds of token gross sales like Solar’s get despatched to the Trump household as a payment — that means they might have straight earned as a lot as $56 million.
On Jan. 22 — two days after Trump was inaugurated — Solar posted on X, “if I have made any cash in cryptocurrency, all credit score goes to President Trump.”
In April, The Wall Road Journal reported that Joe Biden’s Justice Division had been investigating Solar, noting that researchers had estimated that greater than half of all illicit crypto exercise befell on Solar’s Tron blockchain platform. The Journal mentioned it wasn’t clear if the investigation was ongoing. It mentioned Solar’s representatives declined to remark about what they known as “baseless allegations about authorized issues” whereas denying Tron allows felony exercise.
Solar might now be a multibillionaire, with a internet value estimated at $8.5 billion, according to Forbes. He reportedly was compelled to spend $2 billion to shore up one in every of his crypto corporations that was dealing with collapse in 2022.
He didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about what he hoped to get out of the dinner with the president.
Solar has additionally earned headlines for purchasing “Comic,” an artwork set up composed of a banana duct-taped to a wall, for $6.2 million; and for buying lunch with Warren Buffett for $4.57 million.
