Hail to the Meme
January 19, 2025 12:36 PM Subscribe
Trump has just delivered a masterclass in the ability of a president to turn power into wealth. [Axios; ungated]
I find the whole meme/blockchain thing kind of baffling. This is like buying a piece of paper with Trump's face on it, and assuming that other people will want to buy it too, and the value of your face-paper is going to go up, right?
Like, there's no independent value of the thing. It cannot be used to produce anything, it's just fake money.
And unlike the paper money of the United States or other countries, the value of the face-paper is not backed by any government, so you could spend $10K on it one day and the next day it could be worth $0.01.
Am I wrong? Is there something I'm missing?
This is literally just Trump saying "Send me money and some of you will make bank and the rest will just be able to say you gave me money."
posted by suelac at 1:00 PM on January 19 [26 favorites]
Like, there's no independent value of the thing. It cannot be used to produce anything, it's just fake money.
And unlike the paper money of the United States or other countries, the value of the face-paper is not backed by any government, so you could spend $10K on it one day and the next day it could be worth $0.01.
Am I wrong? Is there something I'm missing?
This is literally just Trump saying "Send me money and some of you will make bank and the rest will just be able to say you gave me money."
posted by suelac at 1:00 PM on January 19 [26 favorites]
Is there something I'm missing?
you're missing out
[seriously, no, you are absolutely correct]
posted by chavenet at 1:03 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
you're missing out
[seriously, no, you are absolutely correct]
posted by chavenet at 1:03 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
What’s the future value of being able to prove mathematically that you supported the dictator even before he took power?
posted by nicwolff at 1:08 PM on January 19 [22 favorites]
posted by nicwolff at 1:08 PM on January 19 [22 favorites]
Like, there's no independent value of the thing. It cannot be used to produce anything, it's just fake money.
The problem that most people are going to find out is that market cap != liquidity.
Crypto speculators probably think it's 50-50 Trump makes it fiat of the US. Pay your taxes in $TRUMP!
The question is whether it holds up until insiders vest. I assume his inner circle has access to the first tranche that's been released and the hangers on in the second and later tranches will be left holding the bag which is just a perfect allegory or a Trump presidency.
It's going to be funny af it all the USDC and Tether redemptions from this scam break their ponzi schemes.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 1:11 PM on January 19 [13 favorites]
The problem that most people are going to find out is that market cap != liquidity.
Crypto speculators probably think it's 50-50 Trump makes it fiat of the US. Pay your taxes in $TRUMP!
The question is whether it holds up until insiders vest. I assume his inner circle has access to the first tranche that's been released and the hangers on in the second and later tranches will be left holding the bag which is just a perfect allegory or a Trump presidency.
It's going to be funny af it all the USDC and Tether redemptions from this scam break their ponzi schemes.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 1:11 PM on January 19 [13 favorites]
This is literally just Trump saying "Send me money and some of you will make bank and the rest will just be able to say you gave me money."
People have been giving him money for even dumber things with 0 chance of making bank. It's a better deal than Trump University!
posted by BungaDunga at 1:13 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
People have been giving him money for even dumber things with 0 chance of making bank. It's a better deal than Trump University!
posted by BungaDunga at 1:13 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
Seriously though, after he won I suggested to a friend that it might not be too late to donate to his campaign, just so that the cop who pulls you over for speeding in 2026 sees that gold star. We agreed that the bookkeeping was probably beyond their competency – but it’s a perfect fit for the blockchain.
posted by nicwolff at 1:13 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]
posted by nicwolff at 1:13 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]
Is Trump actually holding any of this... asset, versus just being paid to endorse a crap product marketed at Trump supporters?
posted by Lemkin at 1:15 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 1:15 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
If I understand the article right, the system is that Trump and friends will be selling vast quantities of coins into the market for years. "The market" here meaning people, of course. So when you buy these coins, you're very likely to be buying them directly from Trump. So this is a way to donate money untraceably to the president himself. It's a bribe. But not just a bribe. Because if lots of people are bribing the president, then the value of the coins stays high, and so the coins you bought retain some of the value you put in. It's a bribe that you can get some of the money back from if he stays in power. So by buying coins you can show him loyalty twice: first by giving him money, and second by gaining a financial stake in the existence of his regime. Amazingly gross.
posted by agentofselection at 1:18 PM on January 19 [31 favorites]
posted by agentofselection at 1:18 PM on January 19 [31 favorites]
My decision to start my four-year news blackout one day early appears to already be paying off.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 1:21 PM on January 19 [31 favorites]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 1:21 PM on January 19 [31 favorites]
"A Trump Oligarchy Is Moving to Washington, and Buying Up Prime Addresses":
Jonathan Taylor, a founder and managing partner of TTR Sotheby’s, said that the rich with connections to the administration, although not necessarily a part of it, are moving here too. “There are a lot of very wealthy people looking for a seat at the table,” he said.posted by Lemkin at 1:31 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
That is hardly surprising, said David Rubenstein, the billionaire co-founder of the private equity Carlyle Group.
Big donors, he said, “would like to get the policies they believe in from the federal government — more oil drilling, easier antitrust policy, more favorable crypto policy, less bank oversight. They also want more support for helping American companies invest overseas, and have ready access to government officials.”
Washington housing, he said, was also a relative bargain for them. “If you want to buy a home in New York or Southampton, a really good house, it could cost $100 million to $150 million,” he said. “You can’t spend $25 million in Washington even if you try.”
The question is whether it holds up until insiders vest. I assume his inner circle has access to the first tranche that's been released and the hangers on in the second and later tranches will be left holding the bag which is just a perfect allegory or a Trump presidency.
So you’re mostly right but here it’s all conjured out of nothing so there’s no real risk for people (Trump companies) who just had the coins at the start. The ones holding the bag will be those who buy if it crashes which… since it has no actual meaning, history or tie to any assets (like all meme coins, I do except those that required mining since that was tangible effort)… it’s inherently valueless.
The only real cost in doing this was whatever it cost to startup and be listed.
We can look at a recent “scandal” of the most predicable sort in just this arena thanks to the Hawk Tuah woman who released a rug pull meme coin. It came out, spiked as people sold and then instantly crashed to I assume now nothing. Maybe it miraculously rebounded! Lol yeah right.
Crypto is a natural fit for the Trump era. It’s like laundering money through art only a lot easier and no annoying canvas to pretend to lock up.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:43 PM on January 19 [11 favorites]
So you’re mostly right but here it’s all conjured out of nothing so there’s no real risk for people (Trump companies) who just had the coins at the start. The ones holding the bag will be those who buy if it crashes which… since it has no actual meaning, history or tie to any assets (like all meme coins, I do except those that required mining since that was tangible effort)… it’s inherently valueless.
The only real cost in doing this was whatever it cost to startup and be listed.
We can look at a recent “scandal” of the most predicable sort in just this arena thanks to the Hawk Tuah woman who released a rug pull meme coin. It came out, spiked as people sold and then instantly crashed to I assume now nothing. Maybe it miraculously rebounded! Lol yeah right.
Crypto is a natural fit for the Trump era. It’s like laundering money through art only a lot easier and no annoying canvas to pretend to lock up.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:43 PM on January 19 [11 favorites]
Crypto speculators probably think it's 50-50 Trump makes it fiat of the US.
I kinda have the same thought. But, I wonder what the mechanism is for this to happen? Is it as simple as a presidential declaration? A simple order to the secty. of the treasury? An act of a compliant congress?
posted by Thorzdad at 2:08 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
I kinda have the same thought. But, I wonder what the mechanism is for this to happen? Is it as simple as a presidential declaration? A simple order to the secty. of the treasury? An act of a compliant congress?
posted by Thorzdad at 2:08 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
thanks to the Hawk Tuah woman who released a rug pull meme coin
I am sincerely rooting for Hawk Tuah as she adapts to a very different mode of living than that she recently practiced, or that anything in her previous experience could have prepared her for.
So if she wants to explore monetizing other people's greed, may she go on with her bad self.
posted by Lemkin at 2:09 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
I am sincerely rooting for Hawk Tuah as she adapts to a very different mode of living than that she recently practiced, or that anything in her previous experience could have prepared her for.
So if she wants to explore monetizing other people's greed, may she go on with her bad self.
posted by Lemkin at 2:09 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
Oh. It gets better. David Sacks (Multicoin), Lyndon Rive (Elon's cousin - their mothers are twins), Solana angel investments, etc. It's incredibly corrupt and self-dealing amongst oligarchs.
So another day that ends in "y".
posted by ryoshu at 2:10 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
So another day that ends in "y".
posted by ryoshu at 2:10 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
It's incredibly corrupt and self-dealing amongst oligarchs.
That 5 mg must really have gotten on top of me, because I'm going to say something positive about Joe Biden.
As "too little, too late" as his farewell speech was about oligarchs (see comments in recent thread), if it moves the term into mainstream discourse about American politics -- so that it is routinely used to describe connected American billionaires as well as Russian ones -- he will have done a service to his country.
posted by Lemkin at 2:19 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
That 5 mg must really have gotten on top of me, because I'm going to say something positive about Joe Biden.
As "too little, too late" as his farewell speech was about oligarchs (see comments in recent thread), if it moves the term into mainstream discourse about American politics -- so that it is routinely used to describe connected American billionaires as well as Russian ones -- he will have done a service to his country.
posted by Lemkin at 2:19 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
Oooh there is just something so obnoxious in this post's framing, a masterclass in the ability of a president to turn power into wealth. Not mad, more in awe at the rhetorical flourish. As if every president was primarily trying to turn power into wealth and Trump was just particularly good at it. And not the more obvious narrative, that America has totally ceded its presidency to the most obvious naked fraud.
posted by Nelson at 2:19 PM on January 19 [36 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 2:19 PM on January 19 [36 favorites]
Is this potentially a great way to take bribes? Create something out of thin air at zero cost, and then any time someone wants to give you money, you sell them some amount of your make-believe for real money! The price of one make-believe doesn't matter too much, because you just sell them as much as you need to add up to the desired size of the bribe. You just need the price to be high enough for you to still have enough make-believe to add up to the bribe amount in dollars.
I assume (hope?) that there are anti-corruption rules in place that prevent officials selling real things at inflated, made-up prices. But I'm not sure there are rules about selling made-up things at real market prices...
posted by whatnotever at 2:25 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
I assume (hope?) that there are anti-corruption rules in place that prevent officials selling real things at inflated, made-up prices. But I'm not sure there are rules about selling made-up things at real market prices...
posted by whatnotever at 2:25 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
I assume (hope?) that there are anti-corruption rules in place
Let me introduce you to my friend Snyder v United States.
posted by Lemkin at 2:29 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
Let me introduce you to my friend Snyder v United States.
posted by Lemkin at 2:29 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
Not just bribes, bribes from foreign governments. I've been hoping someone at SEC is paying attention to major trades in the DJT stock. I couldn't think of an easier way for a foreign government to pay off the president, at least not until this cryptoscam came around.
There are no effective anti-corruption rules when it comes to Trump.
posted by Nelson at 2:29 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
There are no effective anti-corruption rules when it comes to Trump.
posted by Nelson at 2:29 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
Is this potentially a great way to take bribes?
It is open bribery just like DJT stock is. All you have to do is lay down some money in the asset, make sure the right people know you did it. DJT is publicly traded, so the record exists, and the blockchain records every transaction permanently and publicly, so you just have to convince Donald that your wallet really made the transaction.
This is the normal type of emolument that goes on among the political oligarchy but this time, they just cut out the middle man. It’s easier than ever to give Donald Trump money in a completely legal way. If anything, this new mode of bribery is cheaper, since if everyone keeps playing the game, nobody has technically lost any money until it all comes crashing down.
posted by Room 101 at 2:46 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
It is open bribery just like DJT stock is. All you have to do is lay down some money in the asset, make sure the right people know you did it. DJT is publicly traded, so the record exists, and the blockchain records every transaction permanently and publicly, so you just have to convince Donald that your wallet really made the transaction.
This is the normal type of emolument that goes on among the political oligarchy but this time, they just cut out the middle man. It’s easier than ever to give Donald Trump money in a completely legal way. If anything, this new mode of bribery is cheaper, since if everyone keeps playing the game, nobody has technically lost any money until it all comes crashing down.
posted by Room 101 at 2:46 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
Oooh there is just something so obnoxious in this post's framing, a masterclass in the ability of a president to turn power into wealth.
It's a direct quote from the article.
('Obnoxious' is Axios's house style.)
posted by box at 2:48 PM on January 19 [10 favorites]
It's a direct quote from the article.
('Obnoxious' is Axios's house style.)
posted by box at 2:48 PM on January 19 [10 favorites]
So... exactly how cheap is it to get Trump to move the US 7th fleet? 1 million dollars? 10 million dollars? 100 million dollars? 1 billion dollars? China wants to know.
posted by NotAYakk at 3:14 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
posted by NotAYakk at 3:14 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
I can only hope the accelerationism that some folks wanted will deliver the possibility of a better future. Another Great Depression from propping our economy up on bitcoin or comic books or baseball cards or whatever will hurt and probably kill another million or so innocent Americans, some more victims to add to Trump's Covid death tally, but maybe helping to install Trump will cripple America to the point where the post-Trump reconstruction era will require a new set of rules based on putting an end to the raw and unfettered corruption that is coming.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:29 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:29 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
Just remember folks, once he rug pulls, he can't be held legally accountable for the next 4 years, and if he runs for President again, while he's running.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 3:39 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 3:39 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
Although, yes, this is America entering its Verhoeven Era, I'm not that worried if Trump primarly spends the next four years soaking the rubes for money. That's what he does, and it doesn't hurt me, it hurts the idiots who give him their money, who deserve it, so who cares. I frankly hope this is his main goal. If his goal is to stay in office beyond 2029, that is an issue.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:44 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:44 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
This is both horrific and brilliant. A simple way for people/corporations/governments to buy favours from the President without anyone having to declare a donation or be subject to any form of regulation. The three-year timeline is transparently aligned with the presidential term, because the opportunity for favours to be granted will diminish as the term winds down and Trump will be too busy running for re-election to bother with anything else by that time.
It's horrific for obvious reasons, but it's brilliant because there's absolutely no way for Trump to lose. Even if the scheme falls flat on its face tomorrow, he gets to keep all the money. In fact, it's better for it to fall over, because he then doesn't have to grant the favours people have paid for, given the currency they paid in is now worthless.
posted by dg at 3:55 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
It's horrific for obvious reasons, but it's brilliant because there's absolutely no way for Trump to lose. Even if the scheme falls flat on its face tomorrow, he gets to keep all the money. In fact, it's better for it to fall over, because he then doesn't have to grant the favours people have paid for, given the currency they paid in is now worthless.
posted by dg at 3:55 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
Stuff like this is probably gonna be the least of everyone’s worries pretty soon.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:00 PM on January 19 [11 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:00 PM on January 19 [11 favorites]
No such discussion would be complete until we ask Molly: Trump Launches A Shitcoin.
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 4:32 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 4:32 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
Mod note: Just a heads up that we’ve put up some guidelines for uspolitics, news, and Trump related posts..
So if folks are doing single link posts about those subjects, please include a sentence or three to give some context, please and thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 4:39 PM on January 19 [1 favorite]
So if folks are doing single link posts about those subjects, please include a sentence or three to give some context, please and thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 4:39 PM on January 19 [1 favorite]
(Should those guidelines say that people should use 'USPolitics' rather than 'uspolitics' as a tag?
I have a vague recollection of using CamelCase in tags being encouraged.)
posted by box at 4:52 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
I have a vague recollection of using CamelCase in tags being encouraged.)
posted by box at 4:52 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
I don't really have a problem with Bitcoin that so many people seem to have. Its purported raison-detre, to be an actual currency that you can buy products and services with, is still pretty far-fetched and quite limited.
Its real purpose, irregardless of original intentions, is simply a vehicle for wealth. The analogy I think of is a surfer trying to catch a wave--you have to be in the right place at the right time and if you can catch it and ride it, you can make bank. But then it just splashes into nothingness. It's the same with a lottery ticket or a spin of the roulette wheel. It's not so much an investment as a game.
Trump's Bitcoin is the apotheosis of this. He could shut it down 30 seconds from now, which I think is perfectly legal (??). It's a gamble, a game. I'm tempted to put in 20 bucks just to see where it will be a day, a week, a month from now.
posted by zardoz at 5:00 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
Its real purpose, irregardless of original intentions, is simply a vehicle for wealth. The analogy I think of is a surfer trying to catch a wave--you have to be in the right place at the right time and if you can catch it and ride it, you can make bank. But then it just splashes into nothingness. It's the same with a lottery ticket or a spin of the roulette wheel. It's not so much an investment as a game.
Trump's Bitcoin is the apotheosis of this. He could shut it down 30 seconds from now, which I think is perfectly legal (??). It's a gamble, a game. I'm tempted to put in 20 bucks just to see where it will be a day, a week, a month from now.
posted by zardoz at 5:00 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
I'm tempted to put in 20 bucks just to see where it will be a day, a week, a month from now.
You'd have ~$11 if you bought a couple hours ago.
posted by ryoshu at 5:10 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
You'd have ~$11 if you bought a couple hours ago.
posted by ryoshu at 5:10 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
$TRUMP isn't Bitcoin. It's a Solana memecoin. Solana is neither Bitcoin nor Ethereum, it's a third thing with an even more tenuous connection to real financial value than the more established cryptocurrency ecosystems. It is also a popular platform for implementing frauds, including the recent Hawk Tuah fraud.
it hurts the idiots who give him their money, who deserve it
I'd like to think America was still a country where we care about everyone being defrauded, even MAGA rubes. I'd like to think America was still a place where the president didn't create and promote a financial fraud vehicle to personally enrich himself.
It's not though. Obviously we've had fraud around the edges with previous presidencies but there's something breathtakingly monumental in the audacity of this particular one.
There's a meme going around now that Trump marks the end of America as a serious country.
posted by Nelson at 5:10 PM on January 19 [24 favorites]
it hurts the idiots who give him their money, who deserve it
I'd like to think America was still a country where we care about everyone being defrauded, even MAGA rubes. I'd like to think America was still a place where the president didn't create and promote a financial fraud vehicle to personally enrich himself.
It's not though. Obviously we've had fraud around the edges with previous presidencies but there's something breathtakingly monumental in the audacity of this particular one.
There's a meme going around now that Trump marks the end of America as a serious country.
posted by Nelson at 5:10 PM on January 19 [24 favorites]
So in the time since this post went up, the coin has lost half its value? Is it too soon to start finding metaphors?
posted by mittens at 5:31 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
posted by mittens at 5:31 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
the end of America as a serious country
Prophetic words from Nov 11, 2020:
I Lived Through A Stupid Coup. America Is Having One Now
It’s absurd, because the whole thing seems like a clown show. Coups are supposed to be orderly, authoritarian, not this dumb shit. It honestly seems like a grift to bilk supporters out of more money. You can just roll it back, right? Right?
No. No no no. Oh God no.
The tragic thing which you do not understand — which you cannot understand — is that you’ve already lost. You cannot know exactly what — that’s the nature of chaos — but know this. You will lose more than you can bear.
We lost our children, playing at church. We lost our friends, sitting down to brunch. Muslims lost their dignity and rights. Your Republicans have set forces into play they cannot possibly understand and certainly cannot control. And they don’t even want to. To them, chaos is a ladder.
posted by away for regrooving at 5:32 PM on January 19 [14 favorites]
Prophetic words from Nov 11, 2020:
I Lived Through A Stupid Coup. America Is Having One Now
It’s absurd, because the whole thing seems like a clown show. Coups are supposed to be orderly, authoritarian, not this dumb shit. It honestly seems like a grift to bilk supporters out of more money. You can just roll it back, right? Right?
No. No no no. Oh God no.
The tragic thing which you do not understand — which you cannot understand — is that you’ve already lost. You cannot know exactly what — that’s the nature of chaos — but know this. You will lose more than you can bear.
We lost our children, playing at church. We lost our friends, sitting down to brunch. Muslims lost their dignity and rights. Your Republicans have set forces into play they cannot possibly understand and certainly cannot control. And they don’t even want to. To them, chaos is a ladder.
posted by away for regrooving at 5:32 PM on January 19 [14 favorites]
I'd like to think America was still a country where we care about everyone being defrauded
It is! And they're working very hard right now to make sure that they can defraud everyone, the lesser-rich and the poor alike!
posted by Rudy_Wiser at 5:34 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
It is! And they're working very hard right now to make sure that they can defraud everyone, the lesser-rich and the poor alike!
posted by Rudy_Wiser at 5:34 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
I'm not that worried if Trump primarly spends the next four years soaking the rubes for money. That's what he does, and it doesn't hurt me, it hurts the idiots who give him their money, who deserve it, so who cares.
This here is in no small part how we arrived at a 2nd Trump term. I don't think enough of us know how bad it'll get. And it's not purely Trump, it's history, and we'll live it. I think it's time to take a break from this shit, my nephew mentioned going for firearm training and that's about as good an idea as anything right now.
posted by ginger.beef at 5:55 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
This here is in no small part how we arrived at a 2nd Trump term. I don't think enough of us know how bad it'll get. And it's not purely Trump, it's history, and we'll live it. I think it's time to take a break from this shit, my nephew mentioned going for firearm training and that's about as good an idea as anything right now.
posted by ginger.beef at 5:55 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]
Maybe it was said above, but it wasn't clear to me if it was put this explicitly: this is a Casablanca casino except the size of the global economy.
It's not just fraud where the value tanks and they rake the cash. This is total-control pump and dump, but then pump some more.
Maybe China or India get their game in order (or Turkey or the EU, or...) but for now the US has the most wealth and the most productive capital on the planet, AND the reserve (fiat) currency AND [whatever financial moral valence you want to call it] Trump. This should be interesting in a terrifying way.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 5:59 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
It's not just fraud where the value tanks and they rake the cash. This is total-control pump and dump, but then pump some more.
Maybe China or India get their game in order (or Turkey or the EU, or...) but for now the US has the most wealth and the most productive capital on the planet, AND the reserve (fiat) currency AND [whatever financial moral valence you want to call it] Trump. This should be interesting in a terrifying way.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 5:59 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
America, 'tis a silly place.
posted by neonamber at 6:02 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
posted by neonamber at 6:02 PM on January 19 [5 favorites]
This here is in no small part how we arrived at a 2nd Trump term. I don't think enough of us know how bad it'll get.
I have a pretty good idea, honestly. I voted against him, but you have to understand what a tough sell it is to normal people in this country to be all like, "A vote for Trump is a vote for anarchy!!!" The last four years have been absolute ass for a lot of people; if you say, "Trump will destroy America as we know it!!!" those Americans say, "Finally." We failed to present an alternative other than More of This Bullshit.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:34 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
I have a pretty good idea, honestly. I voted against him, but you have to understand what a tough sell it is to normal people in this country to be all like, "A vote for Trump is a vote for anarchy!!!" The last four years have been absolute ass for a lot of people; if you say, "Trump will destroy America as we know it!!!" those Americans say, "Finally." We failed to present an alternative other than More of This Bullshit.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:34 PM on January 19 [8 favorites]
I am shocked at the sheer audacity of this.
If you can think of a scam, then someone's already done it.
It's taken decades to develop a legal system for securities.
This is uncontrolled.
It would not surprise me to see the Supreme Court rule that of course it's valueless, but it's a gift
and not our concern.
posted by yyz at 6:40 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
If you can think of a scam, then someone's already done it.
It's taken decades to develop a legal system for securities.
This is uncontrolled.
It would not surprise me to see the Supreme Court rule that of course it's valueless, but it's a gift
and not our concern.
posted by yyz at 6:40 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
digital Green stamps.
posted by clavdivs at 7:03 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 7:03 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]
A second meme coin has hit the blockchain.
Also it's crashed back to $44 after hitting a peak of $72.
I hope all the people who were HODLing got out while the liquidity existed.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:06 PM on January 19 [1 favorite]
Also it's crashed back to $44 after hitting a peak of $72.
I hope all the people who were HODLing got out while the liquidity existed.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:06 PM on January 19 [1 favorite]
Something something peanut farm…
posted by TwoWordReview at 7:13 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
posted by TwoWordReview at 7:13 PM on January 19 [9 favorites]
OMG!! In my wildest dreams, it would never have occurred to me that we would witness the First Escort and POTUS publicly launching competing fraud platforms to bilk their gullible supporters even before being sworn in. Trump's rug-pull just lost 40% of its cap following this. He can not be happy about this.
And of fucking course they're calling it ... $MELANIA.
Wonder when Eric will get in on this.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 7:32 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]
And of fucking course they're calling it ... $MELANIA.
Wonder when Eric will get in on this.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 7:32 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]
This is like buying a piece of paper with Trump's face on it
Reminds me of some blotter I took way back when. It wasn't a good trip. As a matter of fact, they say that it may have been the worst trip in the history of anybody taking blotter. That's what they say.
posted by ashbury at 8:03 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
Reminds me of some blotter I took way back when. It wasn't a good trip. As a matter of fact, they say that it may have been the worst trip in the history of anybody taking blotter. That's what they say.
posted by ashbury at 8:03 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]
Trump has also in the past proposed a national strategic reserve for cryptocurrencies, so now all he has to do is direct the Treasury to start buying and presto! Trumpcoins backed by the full faith and credit of the US.
posted by ndr at 10:07 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
posted by ndr at 10:07 PM on January 19 [4 favorites]
I mean $TRUMP and $MELANIA - as in STRUMPET and SMELANIA
What next - $POTUS - SPOT US a freeby
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:38 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
What next - $POTUS - SPOT US a freeby
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:38 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
Coffeezilla:
trump memecoin is insane
i hate my life
posted by Pendragon at 1:43 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
trump memecoin is insane
i hate my life
posted by Pendragon at 1:43 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
We failed to present an alternative other than More of This Bullshit.I often wonder how different the last 15 years would have been had Obama been willing to allow even one banker to go to jail for fraud. That removed his party’s credibility on economic issues for a generation but also really juiced cryptocurrency because there are a lot of struggling people who figured that even if it was a scam so was the mainstream financial system. Even though that’s a massive error, it got a lot of people to have a stake in it and was successfully translated into political influence.
posted by adamsc at 7:01 AM on January 20 [5 favorites]
Exactly one banker did go to jail for fraud.
posted by BungaDunga at 7:16 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 7:16 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
a national strategic reserve for cryptocurrencies
It's a Netflix film waiting to happen, "The Thumb Drive Heist". The twist: the Federal Reserve misplaced the actual thumb drive; the drive in the vault is just some dude's collection of cat pictures. The Feds have to get the drive back before the truth comes out, otherwise the US economy will collapse.
posted by SPrintF at 8:18 AM on January 20 [2 favorites]
It's a Netflix film waiting to happen, "The Thumb Drive Heist". The twist: the Federal Reserve misplaced the actual thumb drive; the drive in the vault is just some dude's collection of cat pictures. The Feds have to get the drive back before the truth comes out, otherwise the US economy will collapse.
posted by SPrintF at 8:18 AM on January 20 [2 favorites]
. As if every president was primarily trying to turn power into wealth and Trump was just particularly good at it
Traditionally US presidents wait until they're ex-persidents to cash-in. Jimmy Carter was a notable exception: more popular as an ex-president than a president, one of the few examples of an ex-president who didn't use his status to accrue personal wealth after leaving office.
Cashing in while still in office would probably violate a boatload of conflict of interest laws if the Supreme Court hadn't ruled the way it ruled a few months ago about sitting presidents being able to break whatever the fuck laws they wanted to while in office.
posted by subdee at 8:32 AM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Traditionally US presidents wait until they're ex-persidents to cash-in. Jimmy Carter was a notable exception: more popular as an ex-president than a president, one of the few examples of an ex-president who didn't use his status to accrue personal wealth after leaving office.
Cashing in while still in office would probably violate a boatload of conflict of interest laws if the Supreme Court hadn't ruled the way it ruled a few months ago about sitting presidents being able to break whatever the fuck laws they wanted to while in office.
posted by subdee at 8:32 AM on January 20 [2 favorites]
BungaDunga: I sit corrected. It figures that they found a non-American bank to be the token.
posted by adamsc at 10:16 AM on January 20 [2 favorites]
posted by adamsc at 10:16 AM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Molly White: No, Trump didn’t make $50 billion from his memecoin. Also in Mastodon form
Newspapers’ estimates of the $TRUMP token’s fully diluted value fluctuated wildly from somewhere around $20 billion to around $70 billion, depending on which paper you read and when they published. This variance perhaps should have been a sign to these reporters that the numbers aren’t real. ...posted by Nelson at 11:09 AM on January 20 [7 favorites]
Fully diluted valuation is an estimate so flawed that even publishing it should be considered journalistic malpractice.
It's a Netflix film waiting to happen, "The Thumb Drive Heist".
It amounts to a heist anyway: the USG buys Bitcoin, Bitcoin whales offload their crypto to the USG, who acts as a bagholder of last resort.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:32 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
It amounts to a heist anyway: the USG buys Bitcoin, Bitcoin whales offload their crypto to the USG, who acts as a bagholder of last resort.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:32 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
Trump isn't good at anything. The main difference between him and everyone else is that he is either oblivious to, or unaware of, every social norm that gets between him and whatever he wants at the moment. His vast inherited wealth has meant that no violation of any norm has really cost him. This is the same thing. If there's One Weird Trick he's figured out, it's this.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:57 AM on January 20 [3 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:57 AM on January 20 [3 favorites]
When we called you "Cryptofash" we didn't mean it like that.
Also, you aren't so crypto, are you?
(especially with that heil that elon pulled) your asses are showing.
posted by symbioid at 8:37 PM on January 20
Also, you aren't so crypto, are you?
(especially with that heil that elon pulled) your asses are showing.
posted by symbioid at 8:37 PM on January 20
"___ is a rugging individualist" would be a nice card for a blockchain expansion deck to Cards Against Humanity.
posted by jeffburdges at 11:10 PM on January 21
posted by jeffburdges at 11:10 PM on January 21
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The lawnmower kid would like a word.
posted by Lemkin at 12:48 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]