Democratic U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate President Donald Trump’s meme coin, TRUMP, according to CNN.
In a letter sent to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, the two senators said the Trump meme coin project “may constitute an illegal scam” and asked the regulator to examine whether the token involved “illegal fraudulent activity or facilitated improper financial gain.”
Senators raise rug-pull concerns in letter to SEC
CNN reported that Trump launched the personal meme coin a few days before his 2025 inauguration. In their letter, Warren and Blumenthal focused on whether the project resembles a crypto rug pull.
They said that even if the case does not fit the traditional model of a sudden withdrawal of funds, it could still amount to a “soft rug pull” in which market support is removed over time, leaving investors with losses. The SEC has not commented on the matter so far.
Token market cap fell from about $9 billion to below $400 million
After launch, the token’s price surged and its market capitalization reached a peak of about $9 billion on Jan. 19, 2025. It later dropped sharply. The token’s market value is now below $400 million, down more than 95% from its high.
According to data from crypto data platform CoinMarketCap, investors who bought near the top are now sitting on losses of about 97%.
Nansen data pointed to broad investor losses
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen previously cited data showing that by the end of June, nearly 1 million investors had lost money on the meme coin, with total losses reaching about $3.8 billion.
Roughly 80% of the Trump meme coin’s supply is held by entities tied to the Trump Organization, according to the report. Trump has previously said that he complies with the law and has left personal financial matters to his family.