Trump-themed MEME token DJT drama: The issuer "self-destructs" and has a history of fraud, with the token plummeting over 60% in a single day.

Author: Nancy, PANews

PoliticalFi is the focus of attention in this bull market. Recently, MEME coin DJT has become popular due to rumors of being the "purest Trump concept coin", but then a series of twists and turns unfolded, and ultimately the mysterious trader Martin Shkreli had to reveal his identity in the bounty campaign.

It's hard to distinguish between true and false, using information asymmetry and public opinion to create influence

As a strong contender in the US presidential election, Trump-related MEME tokens have become a hot market commodity, especially after using cryptocurrency as part of his campaign strategy, which has further boosted investor sentiment.

On June 18th, foreign media Pirate Wires tweeted that there were rumors that Trump is launching an official token $DJT on Solana, but the media did not provide a source. Several media outlets have also reported on DJT, such as Fox Business, which stated, 'Although it cannot be confirmed whether DJT token has a direct or indirect relationship with Trump, people associated with the former president plan to launch a digital currency within at least two months.' Pirate Wires cited an unnamed source reporting that Trump's son Barron is leading this project, but the editor-in-chief later clarified that he 'did not directly talk to Trump, and Trump may beat around the bush and say it's not true,' and stated that they will no longer report on related encryption news after the community controversy.

But Bo Loudon, a well-known supporter of Trump, claimed in a deleted post that 'DJT is the only true Trump token', which added more credibility to DJT. As a result, multiple Trump series tokens were collectively affected and experienced a decline, with some investors even selling leading tokens worth millions of dollars, such as TRUMP. On the other hand, the market capitalization of DJT token once surpassed the $400 million mark.

In addition, the huge bet also added more highlights to DJT. Martin Shkreli, former president of Turing Pharmaceuticals, hinted that DJT is the official token of Trump and advocated for the token, while making bets worth millions or even billions of dollars with multiple encryption KOLs. For example, GCR and Martin Shkreli made a $100 million bet on whether DJT would be launched by Trump. Who could have expected that this pharmaceutical giant executive was the real manipulator?

And amid the community's doubts, the blockchain data company Bubblemaps published an analysis stating that DJT is not actually associated with Trump. About 67% of DJT's supply is concentrated in one cluster, with 43% of the total supply located on the Raydium automated market maker in the Solana ecosystem.

The on-chain detective solves the case and the issuer self-destructs urgently

To find the true mastermind behind DJT, the on-chain data analysis platform Arkham also stated that Arkham Intelligence will offer a $150,000 bounty to any user who can definitively prove the identity of the issuer of the Solana on-chain token DJT themed after Trump. Subsequently, the on-chain detective ZachXBT stated on the platform that he has applied to Arkham for a bounty on the identity of the issuer of the DJT token.

ZachXBT tweeted, "Martin Shkreli urgently sent me a private message and then temporarily issued a statement announcing that he was the issuer of the token, which is really ridiculous." He also said, "Should we expose the insider fren recommended by Martin before posting on Mike Solana/Pirate Wires?" In addition, community members have revealed that Martin Shkreli was one of the first members of the DJT TG community, and the administrator came from Martin's previous project. Perhaps to turn the passive situation around, Martin Shkreli publicly revealed his identity in the Space event on X beforehand.

Martin Shkreli is the co-founder of the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. He gained fame in his early teens for shorting multiple pharmaceutical companies and making a fortune. In 2018, Martin Shkreli was arrested by the FBI and sentenced to 7 years in prison for securities fraud and wire fraud. Due to his significant price increase of a life-saving drug by over 55 times, he has been dubbed the 'most hated man in America' by BBC and is permanently banned from the pharmaceutical industry. President Trump has also described Martin Shkreli as a 'spoiled brat, a disgrace'.

Turing Pharmaceuticals' price hike provokes protest. Source: Associated Press

After being released early in May 2022, Martin Shkreli immediately turned to Web3. He founded the Web3 drug discovery startup Druglike and raised $3 million. For this, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Martin Shkreli, but he claimed that the company is not a pharmaceutical company. Martin Shkreli also operates in the encryption market, and his token, Martin Shkreli Inu (MSI), experienced a big dump after a large number of tokens were sold, and its highest point has fallen by more than 96%.

Martin Shkreli is also very active in the crypto field. In addition to sharing survival advice with SBF while in prison, he also revealed that he holds some cryptocurrencies and NFTs such as Milady. Recently, he was sued by the crypto art collection platform PleasrDAO for replicating the unique album of the American hip-hop group Wu-tang Clan, which had been previously confiscated. The album has now been sold in the form of a $1 NFT.

DJT Token Takes a Nosedive, Insiders Profit and Exit

With the revelation of the manipulator behind DJT, the DJT token began to plummet significantly. According to Dex Screener data, DJT experienced a nosedive of nearly 66.7% within the day, with a market cap of only about one-third of its peak value.

Meanwhile, several insiders cashed out, according to Lookonchain, the third-largest holder of DJT (possibly an insider) had already spent 1,363 SOL (about $188,000) to buy 52.09 million DJT tokens before the rumors of DJT spread. Within just 2 days, this wallet earned about $1.04 million worth of SOL. Another insider trader spent only $9,400 and made over $1 million, increasing their earnings by 110 times. A large DJT holder, verso.sol, sold DJT tokens worth $832,000. This address is also a holder of Martin's another project, Shoggoth.

In contrast, many investors suffered heavy losses. According to Lookonchain, a trader spent 2,500 SOL (approximately $342,100) to purchase 91,705.6 DJT on June 18th, but only received 4.91 SOL (USD 673) when selling, resulting in a loss of nearly $341,400 in less than a minute. This user's loss may be due to a sandwich attack.

"I will be richer than before after being released from prison," Martin Shkreli once boasted in jail. Where there is money, Martin Shkreli is there. Now it seems that the encryption field is becoming a lucrative "new business opportunity" for Martin Shkreli after his release from prison.