Scamurai: Trump, Tron and the crypto hustle
These are not the crypto projects you're looking for.
Hello,
Watching Justin Sun ingratiate himself with the Trumps is like watching the Star Wars prequels for the first time. You know Anakin will eventually burn everything down, you just don't know what moment tips it over the edge.
(Plus the dialogue is stilted, the characters flat and the whole affair feels like a bloated set piece with no substance.)
Enter the latest plot line in the epic saga of stupid that is the current crypto industry. Sun is attempting to take Tron public on the NASDAQ through a reverse merger with SRM Entertainment, a Florida-based firm that makes theme park merchandise.
On Monday, SRM announced a $100 million equity injection from an unnamed investor, appointed Sun as an advisor and revealed plans to rebrand as Tron while accumulating TRX tokens.
The deal is being brokered by Dominari Securities, which is managing a $210 million stock offering. Dominari Holdings, its parent company, operates from Trump Tower in New York. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. joined Dominari’s advisory board in February. The firm also has a stake in American Bitcoin, a mining company where Eric serves as co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer.
When questions emerged about his role in the deal, Eric Trump issued a denial. “I’m the biggest fan of Tron and love @justinsuntron,” Trump the younger wrote on X on Monday. “He is a great friend and an icon in the crypto space.”
Ew.
He then rejected reports that he was involved in the deal in any way. “I don’t have public involvement," he said.
"Public involvement" is a curious term to use. One cannot naturally help but wonder what "private involvement" might be happening.
Sun’s ties to the Trump orbit have deepened of late, starting with a $30 million investment in World Liberty Financial (WLF) last year, at a time when only $20 million in tokens had been sold by the project. He is also the largest holder of the Trump meme coin, which secured him a seat at a private dinner with the president last month.
Earlier this year, the SEC paused its investigation into Sun and Tron over alleged market manipulation. (Though, to be fair, the SEC has paused a lot of crypto enforcement lately.)
There’s been a lot of coverage of various deals that WLF has gotten involved in, including with Sun. But I’m still at the point where I don’t really understand what the heck WLF actually is.
WLF’s website is stuffed with the usual buzzwords about "banking the unbanked", "unlocking financial access" and "blend[ing] traditional finance with blockchain". The reality is less inspiring.
Promises of future lending tools and a mobile app are yet to come to fruition. Its flagship product is a stablecoin called USD1, pitched as "the dollar, upgraded". It’s not clear what the ultimate goal is for it.
WLFI, its much-hyped governance token, has been sidelined on the website in favour of USD1, which most of the site is now dedicated to. That’s despite having sold billions of WLFI tokens through several rounds of sales netting around $615 million, according to ICO Drops. The last recorded activity on the governance forum was on April 11.
Meanwhile, Trump wants the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the U.S., enacted as quickly as possible. The Act passed the Senate earlier this week and now needs to pass the House before reaching Trump’s desk.
Yesterday on Truth Social, he pushed for the Act to go through “LIGHTNING FAST”. He waxed lyrical about how it would benefit America while glossing over the fact that among the people set to gain the most from it are, in fact, the Trump family.
While the website states Trump the elder was removed as a team member upon taking office, his picture is still on the website alongside those of his sons Eric, Donald Jr. and Barron.
Attempts to insert legislation into the Act that prevent the president and his family from engaging in stablecoin ventures have fallen flat.
Despite saying in May he wasn’t profiting from crypto, Trump is profiting from crypto. Disclosures reveal he earned $58 million from crypto ventures in 2024, mostly from WLFI token sales. Crypto was his second-largest source of income after hospitality.
For what it’s worth, I have few opinions on American politics and who the American people choose to elect as their leader. But, once again, none of this Trump crypto stuff is going to end well. The crypto industry treats the fact they have got Trump on board with advocating for crypto as a win. It isn’t.
Also on Scamurai
Elsewhere
Do Kwon court date postponed again, ‘productive’ talks continue. At this rate, Sam Bankman-Fried will be out of prison before Kwon finally spends a day in court.
Demise of TGP Europe leaves Premier League clubs with income gap to fill. Published earlier this month, if you’ve ever wondered why there are so many weird betting sites advertising in the Premier League, here’s a primer. TGP has previously been linked to Macau junket operator Alvin Chau and his company SunCity.
DOJ announced largest ever seizure of funds related to crypto confidence scams. Regulators seize over $225m related to pig butchering stolen from more than 400 suspected victims.
Housekeeping
I still have a budget for freelancers. Particularly looking for original investigations into companies that haven’t been widely covered. Look here, here and here for an indication of what might suit. Pay depends on the length of the piece/effort required (will pay up to $1/word for in-depth, exclusive stuff requiring multiple interviews, less for more low-hanging fruit). Email callan@scamurai.io.
