The private dinner of US President Donald Trump with the top 220 holders of his Memecoin, who generated controversy of the announcement, took place on May 22. But what was advertised as “the most exclusive invitation in the world” aroused mixed and different answers from those present.
While some complained about the quality of food and the lack of interaction with Trump, others appreciated the network option with the luminaires of the crypto world.
The leading attendees
Tron founder and crypto billionaire Justin Sun was the top Trump Memecoin Holder at the event. He was probably also the most controversial figure who attended the event.
But Sun was one of the many prominent crypto entrepreneurs around the world who attended dinner. According to the New York Times, guests were at the event:
- Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of Crypto Market Maker Wintermute
- Matthew Liu, co-founder of the origin protocol
- Jack Lu, CEO of Non-Gunibible token (NFT) Marketplace Magic Eden
- Anil Lulla and Yan Liberman, the co-founders of Crypto Market Intelligence Platform Delphi Digital
The complaints
The gala dinner could not live up to expectations and hype for different people present, who came within the ‘Shame’ location as demonstrators ‘shame’ sang. First, some complained about the quality of the served food and the lack of options for drinking.
Nicholas Pinto, a 25-year-old whose father drove him to the event in his Lamborghini, said CNBC:
“The food was not sucked up … No other drinks than water or the wine from Trump. I don’t drink, so I had water. My glass was only filled once.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Pinto said that he was “very disappointed in dinner.” He added that he expected to get Big Macs or pizzas.
Pinto was also “very disappointed” with the short appearance of Trump and the lack of interaction options. He told Wsj:
“I am very disappointed that President Trump no longer spent any time during the event. He had not dealt with us.”
Trump arrived in a helicopter during the event around 7 p.m. He then briefly greeted the top 25 holders in a separate VIP reception room, while the 195 other people present opened gift bags in the adjacent large ballroom.
After a speech, where Trump spoke old talk points, he left about 23 minutes after arrival. Pinto told WSJ:
“I was not very impressed with the speech, to be honest. I would have liked him to spend more time with us.”
For Cheng Lu, a 32-year-old crypto investor from Shanghai who was part of the top 25-assisted, things were not much different than Pinto. Lu told the NYT that he had no opportunity whatsoever to speak with Trump during the event or during the Guided White House Tour on Friday.
Pinto also emphasized that the security at the Black-Tie event was LAKS, without RFID sealed bags for telephones. He said:
“Once Trump left, they didn’t really worry about anything else.”
Pinto added that the wealth of those present was completely exhibited, with Richard Mille watches that cost up to $ 1.3 million that were showed off by at least 16 people present. But the mood was modest because of the fact that various people present had already dumped the official Trump (Trump). Pinto told CNBC:
“Many people no longer held the coin. They checked their phones during dinner to see if the price moved.”
According to a report of 16 May, shortly after their places were confirmed, about half of those present started dumping the token. The trend continued, even after the event – the price of the memecoin fell by around 8%, while the tokensali of those present fell from 11.3 million to 7 million
The positive side
Not everyone was put off by dinner. Former NBA star Lamar Odom, for example, used the event as an opportunity to promote its own memecoin, Odom.
The Crypto entrepreneur Nikita Anufive, born in Russia, told WSJ:
“This is a historic moment, when the 47th president, Donald Trump, performed a speech for us. You can’t compare it to a reward that is [sic] At the moment available on the market. “
Anufive said he treated the event as a network option, with about 50 people spoke and tried to “get as many contacts as I can.”
Morten Christensen, a 39-year-old one-time poker player who now runs a crypto website, described dinner as a ‘whole wild experience’. He told Wsj that the event indicates that Trump is “willing to do something with the coin.” That is why it will offer more confidence to future investors and collectors, he added.
On the other hand, Sangrok Oh, the CEO of Hyperithm, an institutional digital asset manager based in Tokyo and Seoul, said,:
“I understand that there has been a lot of criticism about this event, but I see this as a social experiment with regard to crypto. And the results of the experiment is something that we have to observe over time.