Trump-themed meme coin DJT drama: issuer "self-exposes" with prior fraud conviction, token plunges over 60% intraday
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Trump-themed meme coin DJT drama: issuer "self-exposes" with prior fraud conviction, token plunges over 60% intraday
Recently, the meme coin DJT surged in popularity due to rumors of being "the purest Trump-themed coin," but the situation took several dramatic twists, ultimately forcing the mysterious operator Martin Shkreli to reveal his identity during a reward campaign.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Nancy, PANews
PoliticalFi has been a key focus in this bull market. Recently, the meme coin DJT surged in popularity amid rumors of being the "purest Trump-themed token," only to experience dramatic twists before its mysterious operator, Martin Shkreli, was eventually exposed through a bounty campaign.
Truth vs. Deception: Leveraging Information Asymmetry and Public Sentiment for Influence
As a prominent U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump has become a central figure in the crypto market’s speculation frenzy—especially after incorporating cryptocurrency into his campaign strategy, amplifying investors’ emotional engagement.
On June 18, foreign media outlet Pirate Wires tweeted: “Rumors suggest Trump is launching an official token $DJT on Solana,” though no source was provided. Multiple outlets joined the coverage; Fox Business reported, “While we can’t confirm any direct or indirect link between DJT and Trump, people associated with the former president plan to launch a digital currency within at least two months.” Pirate Wires cited unnamed sources claiming Trump’s son Barron was leading the project, but its editor later clarified he had “no direct communication with Trump,” adding that “Trump might indirectly deny it,” and announced they would cease reporting on related crypto news due to community backlash.
However, Bo Loudon, a well-known Trump supporter, posted that “DJT is the one true Trump token” (now deleted), significantly boosting DJT’s credibility. This caused other Trump-themed tokens to collectively drop in value, with some investors even selling millions worth of the leading TRUMP token. In contrast, DJT’s market cap briefly surpassed $400 million.
Additionally, high-stakes bets added further drama. Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, hinted that DJT was Trump’s official token and actively promoted it while making multi-million or even nine-figure wagers with major crypto KOLs. For instance, GCR entered a $100 million bet with Martin Shkreli over whether DJT was actually launched by Trump. Little did anyone know, the pharmaceutical executive himself was the mastermind behind the scheme.
Amid growing skepticism from the community, blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps published an analysis stating that DJT had no actual connection to Trump. Approximately 67% of the DJT supply was concentrated in a single cluster, with 43% of the total supply located on Raydium, Solana’s automated market maker.
On-Chain Detectives Step In, Issuer Forced to Reveal Identity
To uncover the real orchestrator behind DJT, on-chain intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence announced a $150,000 bounty for anyone who could definitively prove the identity of the issuer of the Trump-themed Solana-based token DJT. Shortly after, on-chain investigator ZachXBT stated he had submitted evidence identifying the DJT issuer to Arkham.
ZachXBT tweeted: “After I announced submitting the DJT issuer info to Arkham, Martin Shkreli urgently DM’d me, then hastily released a statement claiming he issued the token—how ridiculous.” He also questioned: “Should we expose Martin’s insider friends who bought in before Mike Solana/Pirate Wires posted?” Community members also uncovered that Martin Shkreli was among the first members of DJT’s Telegram group, and the admins came from his previous projects. Likely attempting to regain control, Martin Shkreli preemptively revealed his identity during a Space event on X.
Martin Shkreli is the co-founder of hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. He first gained notoriety in his teens by shorting several pharmaceutical companies and profiting handsomely. In 2018, he was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison by the FBI for securities fraud and wire fraud. Infamously dubbed “the most hated man in America” by the BBC for hiking the price of a life-saving drug by over 5,500%, he was banned for life from working in the pharmaceutical industry. Trump once described Martin Shkreli as a “spoiled brat” and called the situation “a disgrace.”
Turing Pharmaceuticals protests over drug price hikes. Source: AP
Shortly after being released early from prison in May 2022, the so-called “Pharma Bro” quickly pivoted to Web3. Martin Shkreli founded Druglike, a Web3 drug discovery startup, which raised $3 million in funding. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) subsequently sued him, but Shkreli argued the company wasn’t a traditional pharmaceutical business. He has also engaged in various crypto schemes—his token Martin Shkreli Inu (MSI) crashed after massive sell-offs, falling more than 96% from its peak.
Martin Shkreli remains highly active in the crypto space. Besides sharing prison survival tips with SBF, he has disclosed holdings in cryptocurrencies and NFTs such as Milady. Recently, he was sued by PleasrDAO, a crypto art collecting platform, for replicating a confiscated one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album. That album has since been sold as an NFT for $1.
DJT Plummets as Insiders Cash Out
Following exposure of DJT’s true manipulator, the token began a sharp decline. According to Dex Screener, DJT dropped nearly 66.7% in a single day, with its market cap falling to about one-third of its all-time high.
Meanwhile, multiple insiders profited handsomely before exiting. Lookonchain data shows that DJT’s third-largest holder (likely an insider) purchased 52.09 million DJT tokens for 1,363 SOL (approximately $188,000) before the rumor surfaced, earning around $1.04 million in SOL within just two days. Another insider invested only $9,400 and walked away with over $1 million—a 110x return. A large DJT holder named verso.sol sold $832,000 worth of DJT; this address is also a major holder in Martin’s other project, Shoggoth.
In contrast, many retail investors suffered heavy losses. Lookonchain monitoring revealed that one trader spent 2,500 SOL (about $342,100) on June 18 to buy 91,705.6 DJT tokens but recovered only 4.91 SOL ($673) when selling—losing $341,400 in less than a minute, likely due to a sandwich attack.
“I’ll be richer than ever when I get out of prison,” Martin Shkreli once boasted behind bars. Where there’s money, Martin Shkreli follows—and now, the crypto space appears to be his post-prison “new business opportunity.”
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