"The Money Count" is a reoccurring feature, as outrage and/or hilarity demand.
Scenes from the swearing in in the Capitol Rotunda:
Musk’s schoolboy grin when Trump promised to go to Mars. I completely endorse going to Mars as a national project, but when that also means that billions of dollars may flow into the pockets of Trump’s wealthiest supporter, it reeks of potential corruption and graft.
--David French, NYTimes
It was very telling that the tech oligarchs had front-row seats, in front of the cabinet. The age of algorithmic feudalism has begun.
--Michelle Goldberg, NYTimes
[NYTimes headline] Trump Takes Office as a Newly Minted Crypto Billionaire
The Trump family’s new crypto tokens are worth well over $10 billion on paper, after a frenzied rally pushed up the value of the digital assets in the days before the inauguration.
The so-called memecoins got another boost on Monday when Robinhood, the trading platform that made a big donation to Mr. Trump’s inauguration fund, began letting its customers trade the $TRUMP coin. Memecoins, a type of cryptocurrency tied to an online joke or a celebrity mascot, are not often available to trade on major platforms.
Mr. Trump announced the launch of the new token, known as $Trump, on Friday night. Another token, $Melania, went on sale late on Sunday. Trump affiliates appear to control a majority of the tokens, which will be released gradually over the coming years.
Before the tokens started trading, Forbes had listed Mr. Trump’s net worth as $6.7 billion, most of that coming from Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs the social media platform Truth Social.
Ethics watchdogs have warned of deepening conflicts of interest as Mr. Trump returns to the White House, with the tokens creating new opportunities for executives, crypto traders and companies inside and outside the United States to curry favor with the Trump administration.
A onetime crypto skeptic, Mr. Trump embraced the digital currency industry last year, promising to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet.” In September, he and his sons helped start a crypto business, World Liberty Financial. He has also tapped advocates for looser regulation of crypto to key regulatory and advisory positions in his administration.
Crypto markets have risen sharply since Mr. Trump’s election victory. The price of Bitcoin hit a fresh record high on Monday, jumping above $109,000.
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