Martin Shkreli, also known as “Pharma Bro,” now claims Donald Trump’s 18-year-old son, Barron Trump, launched the TrumpCoin (DJT) token with his father’s approval and holds the private keys to its smart contract address.
Shkreli, who spent more than six years in prison for securities fraud, claims Barron Trump approached him to launch the Solana-based token in April, which is now worth $146 million, according to Birdseye data.
Barron Trump and his representatives have not issued a public statement on the matter.
In an X Spaces hosted by Mario Nawfal, Shkreli claimed he only assisted his “friend” Trump with advice about the token launch but didn’t have an active hand in deploying the token itself.
Instead, he alleged Trump was the true creator of DJT, adding that cryptocurrency influencer “Ansem” was also involved.
' @MartinShkreli noting @blknoiz06's involvement with $DJT pic.twitter.com/YmFwgCPozF
— macki (@_mackinac) June 19, 2024
“I taught someone how to make a contact, and they pushed the button, not me. Keys are with Trump, not me,” Shkreli said in an X post. In an X Spaces on Tuesday, Shkreli suggested 10 people were involved in the token launch.
”I did not act alone.”
He also claimed that Trump was in contact with crypto exchange Kraken to discuss getting DJT potentially listed. Cointelegraph reached out to Kraken but did not receive an immediate response outside regular business hours.
He also claims that Donald Trump was not only aware of the DJT token but “approved it.”
“I have receipts of Barron saying his dad approved it.”
Shkreli tried to back up his case by bringing “Mongolian Prince” into the X Spaces — a teenager with less than 500 X followers who also allegedly worked with Shkreli.
Noticeably shy, Mongolian Prince responded “mmhmm” when asked by an audience member whether “Barron made the token” and “has the private keys.”
“Who deployed the contract,” another audience member asked. Monologian Prince responded: “Barron.”
“[Barron] wanted to do something special, something significant, and we all wanted to help him with that.”
Mongolian Prince claims he recently met with Trump in Florida, but his recount of Donald Trump’s supposed involvement is far less clear, according to Mongolian Prince’s version of events.
Mongolian Prince claimed Barron showed his Solana-based Phantom wallet to his father before the DJT token launch, who supposedly only responded with laughter.
His seven-hour X Spaces came a day after blockchain sleuth ZachXBT won a $150,000 award from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence for supposedly identifying Shkreli as the creator of the DJT token.
Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, accused Shkreli of “trying to throw Barron under the bus” in an attempt to clear his own name.
Related: Donald Trump vows to end Joe Biden’s ‘war on crypto’
Several audience members in the X Spaces said Shkreli’s version of events stacked up. Others disagreed, claiming that Trump wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk creating controversy for his father in an election year.
As the discussion around the involvement of Barron Trump took center stage on social media, Roger Stone, one of Trump's close aids, denied any involvement of the former President or his son with the DJT memcoin.
Shkreli was convicted in federal court on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy in 2017. He served nearly seven years in prison and paid around over $70 million in fines as a result.
Some have suggested that Shkreli’s recent involvement could violate his parole conditions, though Shkreli has denied this.
“Read the law idiot,” Shkreli said in response to the 1.6 million follower X account “BORED,” which stated that he would return to prison.
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