Trump's Taking Dark Money to the Next Level

Not only can Trump now receive anonymous funds from anywhere on Earth – he's set a dangerous new precedent.

As in Britain, America’s political system is riddled with loopholes allowing for undisclosed funds to enter politics. It’s even worse in the States, especially since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 – it opened the floodgates to a deluge of anonymous donations and put practically the entire political system under the thumb of mega-donors.

But in true Trump fashion, the new President has shown that it can get even worse. Just days before his inauguration, Trump unveiled the latest addition to his collection of shoddy merchandise: a Trump-brand ‘meme coin’, a blockchain-based digital security that can be purchased with near complete anonymity.

I go into more detail on ‘Trumpcoin’ here, but what’s most important to understand is that this is essentially a digital Trump trading card with a rapidly fluctuating price (its value increased by over 300% in the first 24 hours) and a massive supply largely controlled by Trump-affiliated shell companies.

The purchases of these coins are listed transparently online, but they’re pseudonymous – they don’t reveal who the purchaser is. Unlike traditional financial systems that require adherence to anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations, crypto is largely an unregulated wild-west.

It essentially means that anyone, anywhere in the world, can directly give money to the President of the United States with extremely limited transparency or accountability.

The result is a new political finance mechanism that erodes what little remains of public faith in democracy, allowing the ludicrously wealthy – not to mention foreign governments – to once again bypass the safeguards designed to ensure fairness.

The US Constitution has a little thing in it called the ‘Emoluments Clause.’ It restricts US federal officials from receiving gifts, payments, or titles from foreign governments. Due to an abundance of caution, former President Jimmy Carter famously had to put his peanut farm into a blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest.

According to legal experts, it’s as yet unclear whether Trumpcoin even violates the clause. According to Jordan Libowitz, Vice-President of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), existing conflict of interest laws don’t apply to the President, who’s expected to adhere to the rules as “norms” rather than face sanction for violating them. “There isn’t a lot of precedents for the President to be the owner of a publicly traded asset, and especially a meme asset,” he told Fortune magazine.

As I’ve reported, the 2024 Trump campaign, and, more recently, his inauguration fund, took massive donations from the cryptocurrency industry. It seems their investment paid off. Trump, who previously disavowed cryptocurrencies, has completely changed his tune in response.

In addition to packing his cabinet full of cryptocurrency evangelists, Trump has promised to make America the “cryptocurrency capital of the world.” He’s pledged to ditch the burdensome regulatory enforcement that’s previously cracked down on unregistered financial securities. In essence, he’s opening the floodgates for more dodgy meme coins like the one he’s just created.

It’s hard to see how similar mechanisms won’t be tempting here in the UK, especially for the likes of Nigel Farage. “Nine Jobs Nigel” has also been raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds from side hustles, including gold bullion and previously, a gin business (Trump was apparently more of a vodka guy). Not unlike Trump, Farage is familiar with both the graft of cheap branded merchandise and online meme culture – the intersection where “meme coins” thrive.

Indeed, Farage has made a similar push for embracing crypto here at home, arguing that it’s a challenge to the establishment. "Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin allow individuals to escape the tyranny of central banking and take charge of their financial future," he wrote in 2023. While the industry remains (more) regulated here in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority than in the States, Farage would likely want to see those protections slashed. He’s certainly never raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

For us here in the UK, Trump’s meme coin is just one more reminder that our campaign finance system must be updated to keep up with technologies and fads, lest they be exploited. As with America’s Emoluments Clause, the UK’s own campaign finance rules are outdated and insufficient to address new mechanisms for money to enter our politics.

Stay vigilant.