Trump, Cryptocurrency, and the Real Winners and Losers
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 574 Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the days before his inauguration, President Trump announced his own cryptocurrency, TRUMP coin, a move that could stand to make the Trump family significantly wealthier. And now, Trump has offered investors something else– access to him, when he recently announced he’ll hold a private dinner with the largest investors in TRUMP coin. In this week’s episode, we talk about Trump's venture into cryptocurrency and the giant web of ethical concerns it presents.
You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, this is Mike. Before we start, I want to take the chance to remind you that we love to hear from you. Do you have a tech-related question that's been on your mind or just a topic that you wished we talked about on the show? If so, you can write to us at Uncanny Valley atwired.com. If you've been listening and you enjoy our episodes, please rate the show and leave a review on your podcast app of choice. |
| 0:26.0 | It really helps other people find us. |
| 0:28.9 | Thanks. |
| 0:30.7 | Hello to you both. |
| 0:31.9 | GM, GM to you both. |
| 0:33.9 | Wag me. |
| 0:34.5 | We're all going to make it. |
| 0:37.3 | That's what the crypto people say good morning. I think you mean the crypto boys. The crypto boys. Yes. Well, I guess it's afternoon. How do they say good afternoon? GA. Or they probably don't say good afternoon because they're too busy hustling. Hodel. Did we start? Yes. We did. This is Wired's Uncanny Valley, a show about the people, power, and influence of Silicon Valley. |
| 1:06.5 | Today, we're talking about Trump's ventures into cryptocurrency, and the web of conflict |
| 1:11.9 | of interests that those ventures are just one small part of. |
| 1:16.7 | On April 23rd, Trump announced that he would hold a private dinner with the largest investors |
| 1:21.0 | in his self-branded cryptocurrency, Trump coin. |
| 1:25.2 | The announcement created a trading frenzy that on paper added hundreds of millions of |
| 1:29.5 | dollars to Trump's net worth. The dinner has now been officially set for May 22nd, and it is |
| 1:35.1 | raising ethical and constitutional concerns, with many pointing out that the president is effectively |
| 1:40.2 | selling access to his administration. But that's just the beginning of how Trump's ongoing business ventures |
| 1:46.5 | are pushing the line between money and politics. |
| 1:50.2 | I'm Michael Collorey, Director of Consumer Tech and Culture here at Wired. |
| 1:54.4 | I'm Lauren Good. I'm a senior writer at Wired. |
| 1:57.3 | And I'm Katie Drummond, Wired's global editorial director. |
| 2:10.9 | So before we dive into Trump's crypto saga, it's worth pointing out that he wasn't always the biggest fan of the industry. |
| 2:12.6 | As early as 2021, he called Bitcoin a scam and said that it should be regulated, quote, very, very high. |
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