"Legitimate" Harvesting? The Profit Chain and Scandals Behind the Trumps' Meme Coin Frenzy

Original authors: Zeke Faux, Max Abelson, Bloomberg

English translation: Saoirse, Foresight News

A few days before Donald Trump's return to the White House, George Santos walked up the steps of the nearby Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. It was January 17, the prelude to the presidential inauguration weekend, and the infamous former U.S. congressman was about to enter a $2,500 "cryptocurrency ball."

Santos strode confidently past a row of men in tuxedos into the neoclassical building. Inside, House Speaker Mike Johnson posed for photos with cryptocurrency influencers and lobbyists, while Donald Trump Jr. filmed a TikTok video. Brock Pierce, the former child star of "Pretty Woman," was also present—now a co-founder of an $180 billion cryptocurrency company; Trump's political advisor, Alina Habba, played a claw machine. Incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and former dating coach Zak Folkman, now a partner of the Trump family in their cryptocurrency business, were also in attendance.

Before Snoop Dogg took the stage as DJ, some attendees pulled out their phones to check an announcement the president-elect had made on his social media platform, Truth Social: he had launched a cryptocurrency named "TRUMP." "Have fun!" he wrote, and the price of the coin immediately soared. Some at the party were furious at not having been able to buy in advance, while others suspected Trump's account had been hacked. "This is definitely fake," one cryptocurrency founder told a colleague.

But it is real—not that Trump has any real investment value, but that it wasn't a hacked forgery. In fact, it belongs to "Meme Coin," a digital token entirely based on hype. That same weekend, his wife Melania also launched her own Meme Coin, "MELANIA." It's like the Trump family filling the National Mall with slot machines emblazoned with the "Trump" logo.

The prices of these tokens surged, and within hours, the market value of the tokens held by the Trump family and their business partners exceeded $50 billion. Subsequently, the prices plummeted, leaving hundreds of thousands of ordinary investors with nothing. According to estimates by cryptocurrency analytics firms Chainalysis Inc. and Bubblemaps SAS, the Trump team may have cashed out over $350 million.

Aside from a few who made a fortune, almost no one left this scandal unscathed. Critics accused it of corruption—they argued that Trump was essentially a conspiracy to anonymously funnel unlimited funds from foreign investors to the new president; cryptocurrency traders accused the Trump family of setting up a scam. The new administration, however, assured the public that "everything was compliant." "The president and his family have never been, and will never be, involved in any conflict of interest," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt later stated in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.

A cryptocurrency ball outside Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., in January 2025. Photographer: Mark Peterson/Redux

Meme Coin: An Unregulated Nihilistic Gamble

The entire operation was conducted almost entirely in the open, but no one knows exactly how the Trumps launched these tokens. Surely someone explained to them the nature of Memecoins and the enormous profits they could generate—it's impossible for an older politician and a middle-aged model to create digital tokens on the blockchain alone. But who were their "mysterious partners"? Only these people know how the Trumps extracted huge sums of money from their supporters.

"I know nothing about it except that I launched it. I've only heard that it's been very successful." — Trump responded to a question about tokens at his first press conference after taking office.

To unravel the mystery, we must begin with the origins of Meme coin. This unregulated, nihilistic "gamble" once swept through the cryptocurrency world, involving several key figures: a college student founder who made his company a staggering $1 billion with Meme coin; a 29-year-old known as "Phantom" who caused a national scandal in Argentina; and a cryptocurrency executive from Singapore—who went by the codename "Meow" and whose online avatar was a cartoon cat wearing an astronaut helmet.

These individuals collectively established a new standard for "converting hype into cash," foreshadowing the "presidential-level profits" of the year. While the Meme coin craze has subsided, it reveals a stark reality: the chaos that can ensue when the Trump administration loosens financial regulations and "hype manipulators" set the rules themselves.

The creation of Memecoin was originally a joke. In 2013, two software engineers chose a Shiba Inu squinting emoji—which was already a meme on forums like Reddit and 4chan—as the logo for their new cryptocurrency, naming it "Dogecoin." They intended to use this comical design to mock the proliferation of cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin, but unexpectedly, investors flocked to it, and within weeks, Dogecoin's market capitalization exceeded $12 million. Fans even sponsored NASCAR racing teams, covering their cars with Dogecoin advertisements.

"I sincerely hope that people won't see the situation with Dogecoin and then turn all the popular network memes into tokens," a Dogecoin founder expressed his concern in an interview.

But things didn't go as planned. Over the years, the cryptocurrency market has experienced ups and downs, but Meme coins have continued to emerge. After Elon Musk began touting Dogecoin in 2021, the pace of these token launches accelerated significantly, with a variety of Meme coins such as Dogwifhat, Bonk, and Fartcoin appearing one after another.

Their "success" violates almost all fundamental financial principles: even the biggest stock market bubble is at least based on optimistic expectations of a company's or industry's potential (however far-fetched); Meme Coin, however, has never had any actual product or cash flow—by traditional corporate valuation standards, it should be worthless. The only way for Meme Coin buyers to make money is to get others to buy these "useless tokens" at a higher price. Essentially, they are "speculating on speculation itself."

“According to the efficient market hypothesis, this shouldn’t work, but the reality is, it does make money,” said Alon Cohen, co-founder of Pump.fun, in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek’s “Meme Coin Introduction”. Pump.fun is currently the hottest Meme coin creation and trading platform, and almost no one has earned more than Cohen in this craze. He revealed that the platform has facilitated the issuance of approximately 1,400 Meme coins (excluding the Trumps’ token), and Pump.fun estimates that since January 2024, the platform has accumulated approximately $1 billion in transaction fees alone.

22-year-old Cohen, with short black hair and a full beard, sat uneasily in a downtown Manhattan café, his words revealing his concern about the "covetousness of new wealth"—a stark reminder of the recent spate of violent robberies in the cryptocurrency sector. Even though his company's legal name was publicly available, he refused to disclose his country of residence or the company's real name.

Cohen used one of his three phones to open Pump.fun and demonstrate how the Meme coin market worked: the platform's interface was rough and retro, filled with flashing pixelated icons, each corresponding to a token. Creating a token only required a few clicks—no programming, no paperwork, and not even knowing the details of how it would be traded on the Solana blockchain.

Any trending topic or news event online can be converted into Meme coins—even tragedies like the assassination of Charlie Kirk spawned thousands of related tokens. To attract attention, token creators livestream outrageous stunts: performing pornography, fentanyl use, and beheading live chickens (it's difficult to distinguish which are real). Among the tokens Cohen browsed were even those with racially stigmatizing names. He explained that the platform has a "hide offensive content" switch, and the moderation team also filters out illegal content.

Buying Meme tokens on the platform is equally simple: the initial price is only a fraction of a cent, and it rises according to a specific formula based on demand. Pump.fun's users are primarily young men and online active individuals—they frequently discuss trading on platforms like X and Discord; and once a token gains sufficient attention, it will be listed on major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, attracting more traders and driving up the price. If you choose the right token, your returns can increase tenfold or even more within hours.

Cohen stated that the platform was designed to "give everyone a fair chance to participate in the next hot project." "In a sense, it's like a game, right? And you definitely want to play a fair game."

However, many Meme coin traders, creators, and influencers disagree. In interviews, they described a complex circle "full of intrigue and betrayal," difficult for outsiders to understand. The core contradiction is obvious: to attract traders, token creators typically promise to "sell a fixed number of tokens at a low price," but once the price rises, they have an incentive to "sell as many as possible." Common (even illegitimate) traffic-driving methods include: manipulating fake transactions to create a "false sense of activity," secretly paying influencers to create a "spontaneous hype" effect; if creators conceal their identities, selling can even be done covertly. Regardless of the process, the only ones who are guaranteed to profit are always the insiders who get in early.

Nobody really cares whether Memecoin is legal. A month after Trump took office, the U.S. SEC announced it would not regulate it, stating only that "other fraud laws may still apply"—after all, fraud is fraud, no matter the form. But so far, no other regulatory agencies or prosecutors have intervened.

The "dark side" of the Meme cryptocurrency market is no secret. Aside from the most gullible traders, almost everyone knows the tricks of the trade, yet they still believe that "as long as you get out before the crash, you can make money." It's like a "mutually consented scam": the despicable salesman in *The Wolf of Wall Street* had to spend his days calling retirees to lure them into buying cheap stocks; now, investors are actively seeking out "pump and dump" scams.

Celebrity endorsements are extremely attractive to meme coins, but most A-list celebrities avoid them—perhaps for fear of alienating their fans. Before the Trump family, the most famous "celebrity meme coin" creators were Caitlyn Jenner of the Kardashian family, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, and Harry Welch, who rose to fame with the "Hawk Tua" viral video.

When token prices plummet, celebrities often claim "ignorance" or shift the blame to "recruiters." "Almost everything except my token was a scam," Azalea told Bloomberg Businessweek. Although she claims she hasn't profited, the tokens she launched have plummeted 99% from their peak last year.

Trump was arguably the most sought-after spokesperson in the Meme cryptocurrency market. During his presidential campaign, countless tokens with "Trump-style" names emerged—some forged family authorizations, others hoping for endorsement. Clearly, whoever could secure his endorsement could instantly become a giant in the Meme cryptocurrency space. But when this actually happened, no one claimed credit. The only clue was a company listed at the bottom of the token's website—"Fight Fight Fight LLC," a clear nod to Trump's remarks after his July 2024 attack.

Mar-a-Lago's "Cryptocurrency Business Strategy"

Before Trump began trading, his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was already buzzing with excitement over the "profit potential of cryptocurrency." The Trump family was promoting a business called World Liberty Financial Inc., which was raising $550 million through the sale of proprietary tokens; Trump also pledged to "de-regulate the cryptocurrency industry" (which had faced crackdowns during Biden's presidency). Several companies donated millions of dollars to Trump's inauguration and lobbied to secure profits during the new administration's term.

A cryptocurrency executive who visited Mar-a-Lago during that period told Bloomberg Businessweek that Trump's plans were "rushed into finalization just weeks before launch." The executive, who requested anonymity to describe private discussions, revealed that the Trump team was eager to launch the token before inauguration—they believed Trump would face stricter scrutiny afterward.

The weekend of Trump's IPO became the busiest period in Meme coin trading history: the price soared from near zero to $74; two days later, MELANIA coin launched, and its price also surged to $13. But by the next day, both tokens had plummeted and never recovered.

Amidst the Fluctuations: The Fate of Meme Coin for the Trumps

The price of the Trumps' Meme Coin since its launch:

Data source: CoinMarketCap; Note: Prices are as of 7 PM New York time and do not reflect intraday highs.

At his inaugural press conference, when asked about cryptocurrency, Trump claimed he knew "nothing": "I know nothing about it except that I launched it. I've only heard it's been very successful." He then asked the reporter, "How much money have I made?"

Trump's website does not list any executive information for "Fight Fight Fight LLC," only providing the address of a UPS store across from a tire shop in West Palm Beach, Florida. However, in a few company records filed in Delaware, the name of an "authorized person" emerges—Bill Zanker.

The name is familiar. 71-year-old Zanker is an entrepreneur who co-authored "Think Big, Go For It in Business and Life" with Trump in 2007. For decades, he promoted psychic hotlines, boxing gyms, and a chain of massage parlors; what truly made him famous was a seminar company called Learning Annex—offering courses such as "How to Open a Greeting Card Shop" and "How to Be Unfaithful to Your Spouse." In the 2000s, his "Real Estate Wealth Expo" was always packed, with Trump as a star guest. In 2013, the two even held a press conference at Trump Tower to launch a crowdfunding website—at which models in white vests distributed stacks of cash from fish tanks to the audience. Zanker described Trump at the time as: "He's a Midas touch, a man with a heart of gold, a man who can change the lives of all of us." But the website ultimately failed.

In 2013, Zanke and Trump promoted their crowdfunding website. Photo: WENN/Alamy

In 2022, after Trump left office, he was embroiled in lawsuits alleging "financial fraud" and "sexual assault" (both of which he denied). Zanke then introduced him to a new way to make money—NFTs. The two eventually launched a product essentially a "$99 digital transaction card": on the card, a muscular cartoon version of Trump was depicted posing as a hunter or shooting lasers from his eyes, striking various "tough guy" poses. Trump earned at least $7 million from this licensing alone. Later, during Trump's re-election campaign in 2024, the two collaborated on selling watches, perfumes, and "Never Surrender" themed sneakers. (After returning to the White House, Trump reportedly sprayed the Syrian president with a $249 bottle of "Victory 47" perfume, calling it "the best perfume.")

Given these existing partnerships, Zank's involvement in Meme Coin is not surprising. However, this entrepreneur, who built his fortune on attention-grabbing marketing, is unusually low-key—he could not be reached by phone, text message, or email. A cryptocurrency investor mentioned that Zank's son, Dylan, was also involved in his business. Bloomberg Businessweek later met Dylan at a cryptocurrency conference in Manhattan: he was wearing a Moncler down jacket and posing for photos with prominent attendees. When asked about Meme Coin, he said, "I respect your work, but I don't give interviews."

The trail hasn't completely died down—Zank himself will soon appear in Washington.

In April 2025, a message appeared on the Trump website: "Trump's largest and most important investors will have the honor of dining with the President. Will you be one of them?" The top 220 investors by purchase volume were invited to a dinner held the following month at the Trump National Golf Club in Northern Virginia.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren called the dinner a "corruption spree." Many of these "top holders" are cryptocurrency businessmen hoping to influence government policy. The largest holder is Chinese-born cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun, who purchased $15 million worth of Trump. Months ago, a fraud lawsuit against Sun by US regulators was shelved, raising questions about a possible "quid pro quo." (Sun denies any wrongdoing and is currently suing Bloomberg LP over previous Bloomberg reports about him; the case is still pending.)

At a press conference a few hours before the dinner, White House Press Secretary Levitt defended Trump, saying he was "attending in his private time," as if "clocking out" could absolve him of any conflict of interest. "It's ridiculous to suggest that the president is using his position for personal gain," she said.

In May 2025, Sun arrived at the White House. Photographer: Jason Andrew/The New York Times/Redux

That evening, dozens of protesters braved the rain to gather outside the golf club entrance. Justin Sun arrived accompanied by an assistant holding an umbrella and three photographers; at the security checkpoint, attendees were required to show identification—many of which were foreign passports, giving the protesters an opportunity to mock him. As two guests in tuxedos walked by, someone shouted, "What are we having for dinner, you bastards?"

The main course at the dinner was filet mignon. Zanke attended as the host, wearing a blue suit and a red tie. During the event, he stood on the podium (with the American flag behind him) and held up a magazine with Justin Sun's image on the cover.

But this opportunity for "rent-seeking" clearly didn't materialize—one attendee revealed that he didn't see anyone speak privately with the president. Trump arrived by helicopter, delivered a routine "buy cryptocurrency" speech, and then left.

This dinner at least confirms one thing: Zanke's involvement is not simply "a name on Delaware papers." But there are still no new clues about "how the president created and traded digital tokens."

Key Clues: The Argentine President's "Meme Coin Scandal" and "Blockchain Tracking"

A turning point came a month after the Trumps launched their token: another world leader was embroiled in the Memecoin controversy—Argentine President Javier Milei. This president, known for his "Trump worship and chainsaw-wielding" persona, endorsed a token called "Libra" on February 14th. Hours later, the token's price plummeted, and Milei hastily deleted his endorsement from social media.

Cryptocurrency transactions are stored on a public ledger called the "blockchain," essentially leaving a traceable record. Nicolas Vaiman, co-founder of data company Bubblemaps and a "crypto detective," told Bloomberg Businessweek that he found anomalies in the transaction records of MILEE and Trump.

Although blockchain data is anonymous, by analyzing "which address bought what, the transaction time, and the flow of funds," Waiman still found connections: someone bought $1.1 million worth of Trump within seconds (obviously knowing in advance), and then sold it within three days, making a profit of $100 million; the holder of another address bought before MELANIA was made public, earning $2.4 million. Through complex transaction chain tracing, Waiman discovered that this address belonged to the same person or team as the address that created MELANIA.

"On Wall Street, this is called insider trading, but no law enforcement agency wants to apply similar rules to the Memecoin market. Essentially," Weyman said, "crime is legal in the cryptocurrency space."

Even more interestingly, Waiman discovered a network linking the creation of the MILEE wallet and the creation of the MELANIA wallet—and the mastermind behind MILEE has already revealed his identity.

Millais's cryptocurrency advisor, Hayden Davis, is a dropout from Liberty University in Virginia (an evangelical institution) and describes himself as an "entrepreneurial expert" on LinkedIn. Davis works with his father, Tom, who told Christian Broadcasting Network that he had served time for counterfeiting checks; the father and son also promoted energy drinks for a multi-level marketing company called Limu.

Photo caption: A photo of Hayden Davis and Milley, posted on Milley's X account. Source: JMilei/X

Meme coin allowed the Davis family to operate behind the scenes. They founded a company called Kelsier Ventures, which functioned similarly to an investment bank in the stock market: providing advice to those wanting to issue tokens, connecting them with "hype influencers," and assisting with transaction management. However, according to Weyman's analysis, the tokens they launched all followed a "suspicious pattern": insider selling → price surge → rapid collapse. By his calculations, Davis and his partners made a total profit exceeding $150 million.

More than half of the profits came from Libra. When a scandal erupted in Argentina over alleged presidential involvement in pump-and-dump schemes, Davis posted a video on social media admitting to assisting in the issuance of the Meme coin. "I was indeed an advisor to Javier Millais," he said. In the video, he tried to appear serious, but his striped hoodie, tousled blond curls, and large-framed aviator glasses made him look nothing like a "high-end financier." Davis admitted to earning $100 million from selling Libra, but claimed it was "just holding funds on behalf of others"—money that has yet to be returned.

The video further fueled the scandal. Cryptocurrency media outlet CoinDesk published text messages allegedly sent by Davis to an accomplice: he used racially discriminatory language to refer to Milley and said, "He signs whatever I say, he does whatever I tell him to do." Facing calls for impeachment at home, Milley denied responsibility on television, even arguing, "It's like playing Russian roulette; if you get shot, you can only blame yourself." (A Davis spokesperson told CoinDesk that Davis "doesn't remember sending this text message, and there's no record of it on his phone.")

Meanwhile, Davis also gave an interview to YouTube anti-fraud blogger Stephen Findeisen (coffeeezilla), admitting that the Meme coin industry he helped promote was "dishonest." "Meme coin is an unregulated casino, and other cryptocurrencies aren't much better," he said. "It's all bullshit." Davis also mentioned a tactic called "sniping": experienced traders use insider information to buy large quantities of new tokens immediately upon issuance, then sell them off after others follow suit. He admitted that his team had also done "sniping," but argued it was a "defensive tactic to prevent someone from profiting from retail investors faster."

In the interview, Davis also admitted for the first time to "participating in the launch of MELANIA," but did not specify his role and insisted that he "didn't make any money." "I did get involved," he said, his tone almost embarrassed, and advised ordinary investors to "stay away from the Meme coin market to avoid being scammed." "Trump, MELANIA, LIBRA... you can list them all, they're all games."

Bloomberg Businessweek also examined another key piece of evidence: screenshots of text messages Davis sent to accomplices after the launch of Trump and before the public release of Melania. In the messages, Davis revealed that "Melania is about to launch," promised to "keep his friends informed," and mentioned the then-secret "MILEI project." He boasted that he had "made astronomical sums by issuing Meme coins" and hinted at his involvement in Trump: "Trump gave me unprecedented power, but also brought enormous risks."

But when Bloomberg Businessweek tried to interview Davis about these details, he declined to comment. "Most of what has been reported is absurd and untrue," he texted. "I'll get all the facts straight before I speak." (The lawyer representing Davis and his son said the magazine's questions contained "numerous inaccuracies," but did not specify.)

Whistleblower emerges: Unveiling the connections of the "exchange executive"

Fortunately, a former associate of Davis came forward as a "whistleblower"—he also revealed that Davis was not the real mastermind behind it all.

Shortly after the collapse of Libra, Moty Povolotski, co-founder of cryptocurrency startup DefiTuna, publicly stated that his company had partnered with Davis to issue Meme and possessed "evidence of a larger conspiracy" involving executives of a cryptocurrency exchange. While Povolotski's statements were somewhat incoherent, he was the only one at the time willing to reveal the truth behind the scenes. In April 2025, he agreed to meet at the "Solana Crossroads" cryptocurrency conference in Istanbul (his home city).

When we met, Povorodsky was wearing black jeans and a black DefiTuna hoodie, sporting a buzz cut on his square head, and sporting a bright smile. He bluntly stated, "Most Meme coins are scams; it's a manipulated game, essentially about pumping and dumping." As he spoke, he nervously opened and closed his AirPods case repeatedly.

But this didn't stop him from getting involved. Povorocki revealed that Davis had hired his company to "assist with Meme coin trading"—which isn't inherently suspicious, since most cryptocurrency issuers hire experts to ensure smooth early trading. But from the beginning, Davis's sole objective was clear: "To make money for himself." Povorocki recalled that his former partner asked Davis in a group chat "how to handle the upcoming token trading," to which Davis replied, "Sell as much as possible, even if the price drops to zero." "Guys, to be honest, we're going to squeeze every last penny out of this token," Davis wrote in a text message.

MELANIA operated similarly: Davis transferred approximately 10 million tokens to Povolotti's partners, instructing them to "sell them once the market capitalization reached $100 million," and also instructing them to "operate anonymously." "They said 'it must be sold anonymously,'" Povolotti recalled with a laugh.

Two weeks later, Povolotti visited Davis in Barcelona—Davis was then launching another Meme coin, ENRON, named after an American energy company that had gone bankrupt 20 years earlier due to accounting fraud. In a hookah bar, Povolotti saw Davis's father showing off "an automated program" used to "secretly snipe ENRON."

Povorocki said his former partner was "the one who primarily handled deals for Davis," and that he severed ties with both men after witnessing everything in Barcelona. (This partner, Vlad Poznyakov, did not respond to messages, and his old phone number is no longer in service.)

When asked about Davis's other partners, Povorotti mentioned a key figure: an executive at the cryptocurrency exchange Meteora. He explained that Meteora explains "why the Trump family can make so much money so quickly"—this platform is larger and more customized than Pump.fun, and although it doesn't specialize in Meme coins, Trump, Melania, and Libra all launched on the platform.

Meteora's co-founder is none other than Meow, who used an "astronaut cat" as his profile picture. According to colleagues, while Meow didn't have an official title, he was the de facto head of the exchange. Povorodsky also said that when he first met Davis at a party in Singapore in September 2024, they were introduced by Ben Chow, then CEO of Meteora; Ben Chow seemed deeply involved in the exchange's "large-scale Meme coin issuance project," and Davis frequently mentioned "Ben Chow's instructions" in text messages and phone calls.

Meow at the Solana Crossroads conference in 2023. Source: YouTube

Confrontation and Silence: Ben Zhou's Resignation and the Mystery of Meow's Identity

After the MILEE collapse, Povorotti confronted Ben Zhou. He recorded their video call and showed it to Bloomberg Businessweek. In the call, Povorotti stated that he suspected Davis had been running a pump-and-dump scheme, and mentioned that he often felt that Ben Zhou and Davis were partners: "Davis would always say, 'Oh, Ben said so,' 'Ben made her do it this way,' 'Ben said the token was going to launch,' 'Ben said she would tweet about it.'"

In the video, Ben Zhou appeared visibly surprised when Povorocki accused Davis of fraud. "I'm so upset," he groaned. However, he didn't deny his close relationship with Davis, admitting to having introduced business to him. "I was just a middleman, right?" Ben Zhou said. "You know, Melania's team needed help, so I introduced them to Hayden Davis."

If Ben Zhou and the Meteora exchange facilitated Melania's connections, were they also involved in the operation of Trump's tokens in the same way? Povorodsky wasn't sure, but he told Bloomberg Businessweek that he didn't believe Ben Zhou's claim of "complete ignorance." "That's all nonsense," he scoffed.

Povorodsky said that after the call, he contacted Meow seeking answers. However, Meow ignored his inquiries, so Povorodsky shared the video of the call with cryptocurrency media outlet SolanaFloor. Amidst the public outcry, Ben Zhou resigned. (Neither Ben Zhou nor his lawyers responded to requests for comment.)

When Bloomberg Businessweek asked Povorodsky if Meow knew who was behind the Trump token and how it generated huge profits, Povorodsky suddenly fell silent. For a full 15 seconds, his expression and body language shifted—a grin, an eyebrow raise, a shrug, a stare, and another forceful shrug—clearly restraining himself from revealing certain information. Finally, he simply raised his hands and smiled.

It seems it's time to find Meow himself.

The true face of Meow: Singaporean businessman Goh Ming Yao and his "financial utopia".

Finding Meow wasn't difficult. He's a celebrity in the Meme coin trading community: besides co-founding the Meteora exchange, he also developed the popular cryptocurrency trading app Jupiter. Earlier this year, a Bloomberg Businessweek reporter stumbled upon him in an online chat room—at the time, television personality Nick Cannon was promoting Meme coin for his improvisational comedy show, Wild'N Out.

"You can make a lot of money if you can attract enough attention, but it's a double-edged sword," Meow said in the chat room. "In theory, we're creating a whole new financial system. But at the same time, you're attracting the worst people in the world."

"We're talking to the big boss!" Cannon later exclaimed excitedly. A few days later, the price of the token crashed.

Immediately after Trump's inauguration, Meow hosted a conference in Istanbul, attracting over 1,000 attendees. He named the conference "Catstanbul," essentially a celebration—perhaps also a "victory parade" for Davis after profiting from Trump tokens. Text messages reviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek show that Davis said he was "spending 24 hours a day with Ben Zhou and Meow."

The highlight of the "Catstanbul" conference was the lighting of a 15-foot (approximately 4.6-meter) tall cat sculpture—a style inspired by Burning Man. The sculpture's eyes glowed red in the firelight, while Meow posed for photos with fans nearby.

On his personal website and podcast, Meow frequently shares philosophical insights about the "free market for cryptocurrencies" he helped create: he envisions a system called "GUM" (Giant Unified Market) where anyone can trade any asset; he also believes that creating new currencies is key to achieving a "more equitable future." In one article, he calls Memecoin not a scam, but a "pioneer of a new era of digital interconnection and cultural expression"; in another, he compares issuing cryptocurrency to "founding a religion": "Founding a new religion or creating a new god essentially only requires a new symbol, coupled with a corresponding community and story," he writes, "and I find it particularly interesting! After all, why should only warlords monopolize the power to construct society, and only central banks monopolize the power to issue currency?"

Despite Meow's efforts to maintain an "anonymous" image, his real name can actually be found online. His personal website lists several startups for which he provides consulting services, one of which publicly identified him in a press release, leading to the discovery of several abandoned social media accounts. It was eventually revealed that Meow's real name is Ming Yeow Ng, a Singaporean in his 40s.

Facing Wu Mingyao directly: The metaphors of "the US dollar is also a Meme coin" and "the baby in the bathtub"

After exchanging text messages about Memecoin, Presidential Tokens, and other topics (including a photo of his cat), Wu Mingyao agreed to meet. Bloomberg Businessweek suggested meeting at a cat cafe near his Chinatown office in Singapore.

When we met, Wu Mingyao, dressed in a T-shirt, linen pants, and flip-flops, limped into the café—he had just returned from Nepal, where he had sprained his knee while hiking with a YouTuber who had also taken him to try "honey" supposedly with hallucinogenic effects. Inside the café, several young people chatted while playing with a lazy cat. Wu Mingyao eagerly began talking about a new article he was writing, claiming that "all financial assets are essentially memes" because their value is built on "people's shared beliefs about something." In his view, even the US dollar was no exception. "The US dollar is a meme," Wu Mingyao slammed his hand on the table, his eyes wide, "Everything is a meme!"

Wu Mingyao grew up in Singapore, where his parents ran a stall in a local food market. He later studied computer engineering in Singapore. In the late 2000s, he developed a service called "Mr. Tweet" in San Francisco—a service that filled a gap in Twitter's (now X platform) "recommended follow" feature. At that time, he was still using the nickname "Steve."

Wu Mingyao said he first learned about cryptocurrency at a Dogecoin-themed party and became deeply fascinated with it. In 2021, he launched the cryptocurrency application "Mercurial Finance," which received investment from the Sam Bankman-Fried hedge fund. Later, Bankman-Fried was exposed for operating a large-scale fraud, so Wu Mingyao renamed the application "Meteora." In an article at the time, he wrote that he was annoyed by "remaining silent about the garbage and chaos he saw" and regretted "blindly participating" in what he called "filthy things."

The Meteora exchange allows the issuance and trading of various cryptocurrencies, not just Memecoin. However, the Memecoin craze has indeed brought Wu Mingyao considerable profits. According to data from cryptocurrency research firm Blockworks, approximately 90% of the exchange's $134 million in revenue over the past year came from Memecoin trading—trades that typically incur higher fees. Wu Mingyao stated that, in a sense, the Memecoin market is more "pure" because it only reflects "the value that users assign to it based on their own beliefs," nothing more. "I have no interest in moral judgments," he said. "I only focus on the actual phenomena. For example, if you bought Fartcoin a few months ago, you can buy a lot more with it now."

Avoidance and justification: "Technical support" and "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"

When the conversation finally turned to the roles played by the Trumps, Davis, and Wu Mingyao's company, he became taciturn. "If I told you that things are actually much more boring than you think, would you believe me?" He frowned, looking troubled.

He admitted that someone from Trump's team (who wished to remain anonymous) contacted Meteora before the token launch, hoping to obtain technical support to complete the token setup. However, he emphasized that Meteora only provided "technical support," and the team did not participate in any transactions or engage in any improper conduct. "There was absolutely no behind-the-scenes trading."

Wu Mingyao stated that his decentralized platform aims to "allow anyone to issue any token," rather than "regulate the intentions of issuers." He believes that innovations like Bitcoin could never be born within a strictly regulated system. "There are many things we really can't and shouldn't interfere with," he said, as a gray and white cat climbed onto the railing and began scratching at his phone with its paws.

He argued that it was unfair to judge the entire cryptocurrency industry as a "scam"—as the old saying goes, "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." He then elaborated on this analogy: "There might be dog poop, baby poop, or even E. coli in the bathtub, but there might actually be a baby in it. What I'm saying is, that 'baby' exists."

Using this vivid analogy, promoters like Davis, who "issue large quantities of rapidly collapsing tokens and flood the market," are clearly "the ones who take a dump." So, did Wu Mingyao ever ask Davis to "get out of his bathtub" (i.e., cease cooperation)?

Wu Mingyao said he only met Davis once, for about 20 minutes, and had no idea what Davis was doing. "It's hard to judge," he added, also stating that his team was not involved in the issuance of the Miley token at all.

Behind the Scenes: The "Little Horse Empire" and the "Infinite Currency" Fantasy

The discussion later shifted to Jupiter's office above a noodle shop on the street corner. Shoes lined the dilapidated wooden staircase leading to the second floor, and inside, about 30 men and a few women were busy working on their laptops. When an employee demonstrated a new QR code feature—sending some Fartcoin—Wu Mingyao screamed with excitement; another developer showcased a prototype that "made token issuance simpler" (she had just used this prototype to create a token called "Little Horse Empire"), while Wu Mingyao watched intently, munching on pork jerky.

Over the next few days, the reporter met with Wu Mingyao several more times, repeatedly focusing on "Davis" and "Trump tokens," which clearly annoyed him. He claimed that the issuance of large Meme coins was "not actually that important" to his business (but Blockworks data shows that the weekend of the Trump token issuance was the second-highest trading weekend in Meteora's history). He also stated that his plans were "much grander than that." "Currency can be infinite," he said. "What if we could create a dedicated currency for every problem?"

While eating noodles at a food stall, Wu Mingyao said that he focuses solely on "creating the best token issuance and trading technology," rather than "controlling how people use these technologies." As for Meme coin trading, which "looks more like a casino than the utopian future he envisions," he believes this is the norm in the real world.

"Cryptocurrency is actually a microcosm, right? It reflects what the world really wants," Wu Mingyao said while scooping fish balls into a bowl. "This world wants to make money immediately and wants something for nothing."

Epilogue: The Hype Fades and the "Ultimate Value Extraction Machine"

Perhaps Wu Mingyao is right. Clearly, when the Trumps issued their tokens, some people were aiming for quick profits. However, as the token prices plummeted month after month, and few celebrities stepped forward to attract investors, Meme Coin gradually lost its appeal. According to Blockworks data, as of November, Meme Coin's total trading volume had decreased by 92% from its January peak. Investors were repeatedly "harvested" until their funds were exhausted.

In June 2025, Fight Fight Fight announced plans to develop a new Trump cryptocurrency trading app. However, Trump's sons publicly condemned the plan, stating it was "not approved by the family"—the family was planning to develop its own cryptocurrency app. In early December, Zank announced his latest plans: a mobile game called "Trump Billionaire Club" that would incorporate Trump Meme coin elements. However, this news failed to boost the token price. As of December 10th, Trump had fallen 92% from its peak to $5.90; Melania had plummeted 99% to just $0.11—virtually worthless.

Davis is now a "discarded child" of the cryptocurrency industry—no easy feat in an industry that already scoffs at rules. No one knows his whereabouts now, and his social media has stopped updating, but blockchain data shows his wallet is still processing Meme coin transactions.

As for Wu Mingyao, the Meteora exchange launched its own cryptocurrency in October, and its total market capitalization has now exceeded $300 million.

As long as those involved in the issuance and promotion of Meme Coin remain silent (not to mention the Trumps themselves), it will be difficult to ascertain how they amassed such enormous profits in such a short period. In the stock market, if someone makes huge profits through suspicious transactions, regulators can scrutinize transaction records and request copies of private information to look for evidence of market manipulation. But in the Meme Coin space, such regulatory action seems unlikely in the near future.

Regulatory gaps and conflicts of interest: The Trump family's cryptocurrency empire

“This is the ‘ultimate value extraction machine’ designed by a group of highly capable people,” said Max Burwick, a New York lawyer who has been pushing for accountability for the Meme coin market and its issuers. In 2025, he sued Pump.fun on behalf of investors who had suffered losses, calling it an “insider-run casino.” In another lawsuit, he sued Davis, Ben Zhou, and the Meteora exchange, accusing the platform and its executives of multiple “pump and dump” scams. Both lawsuits are currently pending, and no allegations of wrongdoing against Trump or Milley have been made. All defendants have denied the allegations: Davis’s lawyer stated in court documents that MILEI “is not a scam” and they never promised that the token would appreciate in value; Ben Zhou’s lawyer stated that Ben Zhou “was only involved in the development of the Meteora software” and that any illegal activities were unrelated to him.

Berwick told Bloomberg Businessweek that the people behind the Memecoin craze made hundreds of millions of dollars by exploiting “unsuspecting traders.”

Meanwhile, Trump and his family have turned their attention to a "diversified portfolio of conflicts of interest," although they still deny that "personal finances influence government policy": the president pushed for a plan for the U.S. government to acquire a strategic reserve of Bitcoin; his son Eric owns a Bitcoin mining company; the government has pursued a deal to sell fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, while the Trump family licensed the "Trump" brand to a waterfront skyscraper in Jeddah; Trump also pardoned billionaire Changpeng Zhao (co-founder of Binance), which provided key support for another of Trump's cryptocurrency projects. (All those involved in the Changpeng Zhao pardon case deny any conflict of interest.)

Many influencers who promoted Meme have moved on to other areas—some of them promoting "prediction markets." During the Biden administration, regulators largely classified such markets as "illegal gambling" and banned them, but the Trump administration took a more lenient approach, allowing the Trump family to enter the field. On prediction market platforms like "Polymarket" and "Kalshi" (both with Donald Trump Jr. as advisors), users can bet on almost anything, including sports events and election results.

The Polymarket platform even offers betting on whether Hayden Davis will go to jail this year—currently, the odds of him going to jail seem very low.