A recent series of scandals demonstrate how US politicians increasingly exploit their own supporters with financial schemes.
The clearest example of this is the Trump family’s deep involvement in the crypto industry.
Reuters reported that the Trump family made $2.3 billion in income from crypto ventures between November 2024 and April 2026, while investors lost basically the exact same amount, $2.25 billion.
In other words, this was an upward transfer of wealth from Trump fans and retail investors to the billionaire US president and his family.
However, as with most of the problems in the United States, this issue is bipartisan.
Members of the Biden family have also wanted to get in on the grift.
Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, was inspired by Trump to launch his own meme coin.
It ended up being a complete disaster.
Hunter Biden named his meme coin the Laptop token, in a sarcastic reference to a scandal involving shocking photos and videos that were on his laptop that were released to the public.
It is quite appropriate that this meme coin was named after the disgraceful affair, because it caused another scandal.
The Laptop token launched at 8 am Eastern Time on 9 September. It immediately shot up to more than $222 per token.
But then, an hour later, it crashed to around $2.
So in just one hour, Hunter Biden’s laptop coin lost 99% of its value.
Nearly 12,000 wallets lost money on the Laptop token. But one wallet made $1.18 million off the meme coin.
People are obviously very angry. Many are accusing Hunter Biden and his team of running a rug pull scheme.
Hunter Biden took to Twitter to defend himself, blaming “technical issues coupled with predatory ‘snipers’”.
The son of the former president claimed, “I, personally, have not made a single dollar”.
His tweet earned a fact check, which noted that some Laptop token market makers “sold post-launch, contradicting claims that the team’s allocation is locked and nobody on their side sold”.
Hunter Biden launched his meme coin following a media blitz, in which he used dozens of interviews on news outlets and podcasts to carefully rebrand, cultivating an image of himself as a man who was hardened by tragedy and addiction and was misrepresented by the political opponents of his father.
This scandal is especially ironic, considering that Hunter Biden had initially marketed his Laptop coin as a philanthropic venture, pledging to donate tokens to charity, and writing that its mission was to “help each other and our country to get back up”.
Just a few hours before launching the token, he acknowledged that meme coins have “been so misused by grifters”. But he insisted that his was different.
The Trump family has also promoted meme coin scams
Members of the Trump family jumped on the Laptop token collapse as an opportunity to demonize a competing political dynasty.
Donald Trump’s son Eric responded on Twitter to news that Laptop’s price had crashed, writing, “Hunter should go back to painting…”.
This is deeply hypocritical, given that the Trump family has benefited from similar meme coin schemes.
The US president launched Trump coin on 17 January 2025, just three days before his inauguration.
Its price peaked at nearly $72 on the 19th.
It then crashed, and is now trading at $2.
The price of Trump coin has fallen by more than 97%.
Moreover, the First Lady has her own meme coin named after her, the Melania token.
Melania Trump’s team launched the meme coin on 19 January, one day before her husband’s inauguration.
Its price peaked on the day of the inauguration, at nearly $11. And, once again, it immediately collapsed.
Today it is trading at just $0.10 per token. Its price declined by more than 99%.
While these crypto schemes have been catastrophic for investors, many of whom are Trump supporters, they have provided a windfall for the political dynasty.
Nearly 1 million people have lost a total of $3.81 billion by investing in Trump’s meme coin as of July 2026, according to an estimate by the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Trump himself pocketed $636 million.
Overall, the Trump family made $2.3 billion from crypto ventures between November 2024 and April 2026, according to Reuters, while investors lost $2.25 billion.
More US politicians join the crypto grift
Because there is impunity for politicians in the United States, others have joined in on the crypto grift.
The former mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, launched his own meme coin this January.
It was called NYC Token, and it saw the same thing happen: the price shot up at launch, before immediately collapsing.
One of the creators of NYC Token pulled out $2.5 million mere hours after it launched. It then crashed.
Many people accused Adams and his team of overseeing a rug pull scam, which they denied.
Adams was previously a police officer, and he has been involved in a series of corruption scandals.
Cynically, Adams claimed the goal of his meme coin was to fight the supposed “rapid spread of antisemitism and anti-Americanism across this country”.
Adams published a video on social media showing himself promoting the crypto scheme to humble taxi drivers. If they had bought it, they would have lost money.
The US exports its crypto scams to Argentina
The United States has also exported its crypto scams to other countries.
Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei, a close Trump ally, repeated a similar scheme in 2025.
Milei promoted a crypto venture called the Libra token.
It crashed immediately after launch.
Bloomberg reported that 86% of people who invested in Libra lost money. Most were Milei’s own supporters. Together, they lost $251 million.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that insiders profited handsomely. Eight digital wallets linked to the creators of the Libra token withdrew $99 million.
These were allies of President Milei.
In Argentina, this did cause a massive political scandal. Many opposition politicians have called for Milei to be impeached.
However, at the end of the day, there were no serious consequences for Milei. He remains in power, and he is still strongly supported by the Trump administration and right-wing US activists — particularly Elon Musk, the world’s richest oligarch.
"Sociopaths are attracted to politics because they see it as a sphere in which one can be ruthless and step all over people."
Alexander McCall Smith
grifters selling hot air.