Maxine Waters Accuses Trump of Cryptocurrency Misconduct
During a highly charged House hearing, Congresswoman Maxine Waters leveled serious accusations against Donald Trump’s various cryptocurrency initiatives, claiming they have significantly increased his wealth while harming investors. Waters, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, expressed concerns regarding the potential corrupt nature of Trump’s crypto activities, particularly focusing on his memecoin, the Official Trump token (TRUMP). This token saw a staggering decline, plummeting nearly 90% from its peak value of $75.35 in January, which Waters labeled as a ‘fraudulent memecoin.’
Wealth Increase and Investor Losses
In her remarks, Waters asserted that Trump’s net worth grew from $2.3 billion to $5.6 billion, suggesting that his crypto involvement contributed to doubling his wealth.
This fraudulent memecoin resulted in losses of around $2 billion for investors, while Trump and his family allegedly reaped at least $350 million from these ventures.
Concerns Over Broader Crypto Ventures
Waters also pointed to other cryptocurrency-related enterprises connected to Trump, like World Liberty Financial, raising alarms about the potential for these endeavors to be exploited by both domestic and foreign entities to exert influence on U.S. policies.
I am incredibly worried that these crypto ventures might allow various interested parties to transfer money to Trump and his close associates without detection.
Criticism of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets
Critically, she took aim at the subcommittee focused on digital assets, financial technology, and artificial intelligence, accusing them of facilitating Trump’s aspirations in the crypto realm.
This committee is furthering Trump’s objectives. Just last week, actions taken by this committee could effectively position Trump as ‘the king of crypto’ by endorsing legislation that would enable him to dominate the stablecoin market, potentially replacing the dollar with his own stablecoin.
Introduction of New Stablecoin and Calls for Oversight
Waters highlighted the recent introduction of the WLFI stablecoin, also referred to as USD1, which would be pegged to the U.S. dollar and secured by short-term U.S. Treasury holdings. She urged caution, positing that this stablecoin might receive undue regulatory advantages. Together with Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has similarly criticized both Trump and the broader deregulatory trends within the crypto market, Waters continues to call for stringent oversight in all cryptocurrency policymaking to prevent any conflicts of interest related to Trump’s business endeavors.
