Warren and Blumenthal demand SEC investigate the TRUMP memecoin

Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal sent SEC Chairman Paul Atkins a letter demanding a formal investigation into the TRUMP memecoin — arguing the project may have facilitated fraud or unjust enrichment.

According to the senators, roughly a million investors have collectively lost about $3.8 billion as of the end of June 2026, while Trump-affiliated entities took in roughly $636 million — a figure that appears in his 2025 income disclosure. Separately, Melania Trump is reported to have earned about $6 million from digital assets, including NFTs.

While all cryptocurrency trading involves risk, such a stark asymmetry raises questions about how the president made his cryptocurrency fortune

The token launched on the Solana blockchain just days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration. At its peak, it reached a market cap near $9 billion, trading around $46. Since then, the price has fallen to roughly $1.47 — a decline of nearly 97% from its all-time high. Trump-affiliated entities are estimated to have controlled about 80% of the token's supply at launch.

• Investor losses: roughly $3.8 billion; Trump-affiliated entities' income: roughly $636 million
• Token price decline from peak: nearly 97% (from ~$46 to ~$1.47)
• Trump-affiliated entities controlled about 80% of supply at launch

The senators explicitly use the term "rug pull" — a scenario where early participants and insiders extract value while ordinary investors are left holding the decline. The investigation request comes amid something we've already covered: the standoff over the CLARITY Act's ethics provision, with Lummis blaming Democrats and Warren blaming the bill itself, and how the CLARITY Act again failed to get a Senate vote before recess. Trump's memecoin earnings have become the central sticking point in negotiations over the bill's ethics clause — Democrats are refusing to back the CLARITY Act without real restrictions on sitting officials profiting from crypto projects.

The SEC has previously said memecoins generally fall outside its jurisdiction, lacking sufficient "use or functionality" to qualify as securities. As of publication, the White House had not commented on the senators' request.

None of this should be read as personalized investment advice.