Trump Memecoins: 'Legal Bribes' or a New Form of Political Lobbying?
Economist and well-known cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff has made a resonant statement, calling Donald Trump's memecoins nothing more than "legal bribes" to the sitting president. In his view, purchasing tokens like TRUMP and MELANIA has become a convenient channel for transferring funds directly into the pockets of the first family of the United States, bypassing traditional financing mechanisms.
This statement comes amid the publication of a financial report, according to which Trump's income from cryptocurrency projects in 2025 exceeded $1 billion. Notably, the memecoins themselves are in deep "red territory": TRUMP is trading around $1.71 — 98% below its all-time high of $73.43 set in January. The MELANIA token has lost over 99% of its value, dropping to $0.078 from its peak of $13.05.
Investment or Bribery?
In a new episode of The Peter Schiff Show, Schiff emphasized that serious investments in these tokens can hardly be explained by rational investment expectations. With current dynamics, 67% of TRUMP holders are at a loss, and the situation with the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project is even more telling — about 85% of buyers on the secondary market are also incurring losses.
"Essentially, this is a way to bribe the president," Schiff stated. "You don't need to transfer money directly — just buy the token. Who else would purchase it? As an investment, it's a failed idea." The economist recalled that closed events have already been held at the White House, accessible only to the largest holders of these crypto assets.
My observations as an analyst confirm this logic: we are seeing a classic "pay-to-play" mechanism, where access to political influence is monetized through speculative assets with zero fundamental value. This raises serious questions not only from an ethical standpoint but also from a regulatory perspective.
Numbers Don't Lie
According to a 927-page report, CIC Digital earned approximately $636 million in royalties from memecoins over the past year. Another $515 million came from the sale of World Liberty Financial tokens. Only those bearing the Trump surname profit — buyers, on the other hand, incur losses.
Interestingly, back in January 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Jake Auchincloss pointed out that such tokens open the door for foreign buyers to "secure support from the administration." Now that the volume of funds flowing through these mechanisms is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, these warnings sound particularly relevant.
My expert opinion: The memecoin market has long moved beyond simple hype. When top-level political figures begin using them as a tool to monetize influence, it sets a precedent that could have long-term consequences for the entire industry. Investors should remember: behind the shiny wrapper of a "political token," there is often not an investment, but an expensive way to buy access to power.