The crypto market has been in shambles lately, although the price of bitcoin is now back up to around $70,000 after sinking to approximatey $60,000 yesterday. In response, Democrats are mocking Trump’s crypto embrace that began during his 2024 presidential campaign, and the president’s own TRUMP memecoin is now down roughly 95% from the all-time high it hit around the time of his inauguration. Things look even worse for the first lady’s MELANIA memecoin, which is now down 99% from its own all-time high.
Yikes pic.twitter.com/dfvbKMSRou
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) February 5, 2026
On top of the severe decline seen in the bitcoin and greater crypto market, the Trump administration has been accused by many of conducting various corrupt deals and offering pay-to-play schemes in terms of favorable regulatory policy for crypto insiders. The TRUMP memecoin is part of this, as crypto entrepreneur and investor Justin Sun’s massive holdings of the memecoin were part of a letter sent by House Democrats to the SEC regarding concerns over the lack of regulatory enforcement in the crypto industry that has occurred during Trump’s second term in office.
On top of concerns around the potential purchasing of influence through the memecoin, there has also been the accusation of “unprecedented corruption” around the pardon granted to the former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, the lack of a similar pardon for Bitcoin developers who have no business dealings with Trump, and the more recent concerns regarding a $500 million investment by United Arab Emirates National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the Trump-affiliated crypto venture World Liberty Financial.
Throughout this whole time, the Trump family is also reported to have enjoyed $1.4 billion in profits from their crypto business dealings.
Earlier this week, U.S. House Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) sent a letter to World Liberty Financial co-founder Zack Witkoff and United States Attorney for the District of Delaware Benjamin Wallace outlining a variety of concerns regarding the $500 million deal, which has also been called out as corrupt by other Democrats. Key concerns relate to how the deal may have impacted U.S. export policy when it comes to AI chips, national security-related objections, and potential ties to Chinese interests.
Notably, Witkoff is the son of Steve Witkoff, who has served in the Trump administration as the United States special envoy to the Middle East and special envoy for peace missions. “The reported details of the Emirati investment of $500 million into WLF are as shocking as they are scandalous,” wrote Khanna in his letter to Wallace.
Trump’s promise to provide regulatory clarity to the crypto industry by way of the CLARITY Act has also been threatened recently, as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the company’s withdrawal of support from the bill after seeing a draft copy of the Senate’s version of the legislation. According to Armstrong, no crypto bill would be better than the one he saw.
On top of the loss of support from Coinbase, Democrats have long argued that ethics protections need to be added to the bill to prevent the sort of ethically-troublesome crypto profiteering that has been perceived in the Trump administration so far. According to a report in Politico, the recent $500 million World Liberty Financial deal has further invigorated concerns over these ethics issues. “This latest apparent bribe from the UAE, that puts our national security at risk, means that crypto supporters now have to overlook an even taller steaming pile of corruption,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Of course, the $190 million in cash held by crypto-focused super PAC Fairshake for use in the upcoming midterm elections makes going against what the industry wants an uphill battle.
A lack of regulatory clarity, especially when it comes to protections for developers, would be particularly disappointing for those who are more interested in Bitcoin than the centralized aspects of the crypto sector, such as stablecoins and exchanges offering crypto token trading. In a statement regarding the current state of the CLARITY Act shared with Gizmodo, Bitcoin Policy Institute Head of Policy Zack Shapiro stated, “Open-source developers writing and publishing code should not be treated as regulated financial intermediaries, and individuals must retain the ability to hold and transact with their own assets without being forced into custodial chokepoints.”
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