Trump Tells Top $TRUMP Holders Crypto ‘Was Created in America’

Former President Donald Trump addressed a VIP reception for the largest $TRUMP token holders Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, telling the group that “the crypto industry was created in America.” The token was trading near $2.59 during the event.

Trump spoke for about 45 minutes, touching on the Israel-Iran conflict, his administration’s record on crypto policy, artificial intelligence and recent moves in Intel Corp. He also promoted the $TRUMP meme coin to the assembled holders.

About 29 of the largest token holders were invited to the reception and received branded items including fragrances, posters, trading cards and watches. The token’s official site and the event page had indicated there would be no private meetings with Trump and that gifts would not be accepted.

Attendees included investor Cathie Wood, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, motivational speaker Tony Robbins and former boxing champion Mike Tyson. Secret Service agents asked people to remain seated while some guests moved forward to hear Trump speak.

Market data showed the $TRUMP token trading near $2.59 on Saturday. CoinGecko recorded the token at $2.56 that afternoon, down about 10.4% over 24 hours and well below a post-inauguration peak above $70 in January 2025. The coin had fallen to roughly $15 by May 2025 after an earlier sell-off. On-chain analytics firm Nansen reported that the token generated roughly $1.35 billion in trading volume during the eligibility period for the Mar-a-Lago gathering.

The event took place amid a legal dispute involving investor Justin Sun and the Trump family’s World Liberty project. Sun filed a lawsuit alleging the World Liberty team froze his WLFI tokens after he refused to invest more, stripped his voting rights, threatened to burn his tokens and declined offers to settle without court action. Sun also sold a 3% stake he held in $TRUMP in a single transaction and did not attend the Mar-a-Lago reception.

In the court filing, Sun wrote that he remains a supporter of Trump’s crypto-friendly policies and asked to be treated the same as other early investors. The dispute prompted active discussion on social media, with public exchanges involving Sun and members of the Trump family.

Trump’s statement that crypto was invented in the United States drew scrutiny because Bitcoin and early cryptocurrencies were created under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, whose identity and nationality remain unconfirmed.

The $TRUMP project and its associated tokens remain under observation by traders and regulators as legal and governance disputes continue to unfold.