Trump Dinner Invitation to Large Investors: Sincere Gratitude or Clever Marketing?

The “TRUMP DINNER” hosted by Trump will be held on May 22 in Washington, and the event plans to invite the first 220 TRUMP token holders to participate, among which the top 25 token holders will receive qualifications for a private VIP reception with Trump and will participate in a special VIP tour of the White House the following day. According to the organizers, Trump will attend the dinner as a guest and will not be fundraising during the event.

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This news reminds one of the large-scale unlocking event of the TRUMP token that occurred not long ago: on April 18, TRUMP unlocked 40 million tokens, worth approximately $300 million, accounting for 20% of the total circulation. With the timing so close, one can’t help but wonder: Is it a sincere gesture of gratitude to supporters that the tokens were just unlocked and Trump is hosting a dinner inviting Large Investors, or is it a carefully designed market strategy?

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After the announcement of the dinner news, the price of TRUMP surged rapidly, reaching a high of $14.37 at one point, and as of the time of reporting, it was priced at $12.37, with a daily increase of over 33%.

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Large Investors Act Quickly to Profit

Market analysis shows that after the dinner announcement was released, an investor quickly invested 5 million USDC to purchase 407,467 TRUMP coins at a price of $12.27. Subsequently, this Large Investor sold all of them in less than half an hour, with total profits reaching $731,800.

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Another long-time liquidity provider for TRUMP withdrew liquidity from both wallets at around 8 a.m. that day, recovering 211,977 TRUMP (about $2.76 million) and 18,376 SOL (also about $2.76 million). Both wallets are currently among the top 220 holders and are eligible for dinner invitations. It is reported that the investor bought 332,424 TRUMP (about $802,000) at a price of $2.41 on the first day of the token’s listing and provided liquidity. At the peak of the token price, the tokens were worth more than $24 million at one point.

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However, not all investors are so lucky. On-chain analysts pointed out that a TRUMP token investor sold off their holdings about 20 hours before the good news was announced, realizing a profit of only $483,000, whereas if they had held until after the news was released, the theoretical profit could have reached $4.28 million.

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Can TRUMP Token achieve long-term value growth?

In terms of long-term performance, the TRUMP token has been disappointing. The price soared above $75 on the first day of listing, and the market value once reached about $15 billion, but by January 20 it had plummeted by more than 50%. Investors quickly noticed the high concentration of tokens and the short lock-up period. Considering that 80% of the supply is allocated to Trump-controlled founders and related entities, the current market capitalization of $2.6 billion is hardly considered a reasonable valuation by the market.

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Although Trump’s dinner event has stimulated short-term trading enthusiasm, the long-term trend of token prices is unlikely to undergo substantial changes due to a single dinner. The current price surge is mainly driven by market speculation and Trump’s “emotional marketing.” In the long run, unless concerns about token concentration and unlocking can be effectively alleviated, TRUMP will find it difficult to reverse the long-term sluggish market performance.

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Trump’s NFT Strategy

It is worth noting that the official statement from TRUMP mentioned: if the dinner is canceled or Trump is unable to attend, eligible TRUMP holders will receive a limited edition NFT as compensation. This indicates that Trump is not only paying attention to the Meme coin market but is also continuing to promote the development of NFT projects.

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Trump has been exploring the NFT space for some time. On May 8 of this year, he hosted an NFT dinner at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, inviting buyers who purchased at least 47 “MugShot Edition” NFTs to attend. This series consists of 100,000 NFTs, priced at $99 each, and purchasing 47 (for $4,653) qualifies one for dinner with Trump.

Trump’s first NFT release can be traced back to December 2022, when he launched 45,000 digital cards featuring him as a superhero, astronaut, western sheriff, and more. These NFTs were issued on the Polygon chain, with the standard edition cards priced at $99, and purchasing 45 cards would grant access to an NFT dinner ticket. According to market data, all NFTs sold out in about 12 hours. In March 2023, when Trump was indicted in Manhattan, the price of these NFTs skyrocketed, reaching a peak of $1,700.

In April 2023, the Trump team launched the second series of trading cards, maintaining a price of $99, which sold out within 5 hours of release, generating total revenue of $4.6 million.

Conclusion

Whether it is promoting the TRUMP token or NFT projects, Trump seems to be adept at leveraging digital assets to create short-term hype and profits. Whether the TRUMP token and NFTs can achieve long-term value growth is not the most critical factor; the price surge and media exposure in the short term are already sufficient to achieve certain goals. From the current distribution of TRUMP token holders, the concentration of Large Investors remains very high, which may continue to affect the market’s long-term confidence in this token.

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