Martin Shkreli, also known as “Pharma Bro,” now claims that Donald Trump’s 18-year-old son Barron Trump launched the TrumpCoin (DJT) token with his father’s approval and holds the private key to the smart contract address.
Shkreli, who has been in prison for more than six years for securities fraud, claimed that Barron Trump approached him in April about launching a Solana-based token. According to Birdseye data, the token is currently worth $146 million.
Neither Barron Trump nor his representatives have made any public statements on the matter.
On X Spaces, hosted by Mario Nawfal, Shkreli claimed that he only advised his “friend” Trump on the token launch and did not actively participate in the distribution of the token itself.
Instead, he claimed that Trump was the true founder of DJT and added that cryptocurrency influencer Ansem was also involved.
‘ @MartinShkreli fist @blknoiz06‘s participation $DJT pic.twitter.com/YmFwgCPozF
— Tentacle (@_mackinac) June 19, 2024
“I taught someone how to contact me, and he pushed the button, not me. The key is with Trump, not me,” Shkreli said in the X post. Speaking at X Spaces on Tuesday, Shkreli suggested that 10 people were involved in the token launch.
“I did not act alone.”
He also claimed that President Trump had contacted cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to discuss a possible listing of DJT. Cointelegraph reached out to Kraken but did not receive an immediate response outside of regular business hours.
He also claimed that Donald Trump was not only aware of the DJT token but “approved” of it.
“I have a receipt saying Barron’s father approved it.”
Shkreli tried to back up his claim by bringing the “Mongolian Prince” to X Spaces. X Spaces was a teen with less than 500 X followers known to have worked with Shkreli.
A noticeably shy Mongolian Prince responded “hmm” when asked by an audience member: “Did Barron create the token” and “Do you have the private key?”
“Who distributed the contracts?” another audience member asked. “Barron,” answered the Monologian Prince.
“(Barron) wanted to do something special and important, and we all wanted to help him.”
The Mongolian prince claims he recently met with Trump in Florida, but his account of Donald Trump’s involvement is much less clear, according to the Mongolian prince’s version of events.
The Mongolian prince claimed that Barron showed his father the Solana-based Phantom wallet before the launch of the DJT token, and his father only responded with laughter.
His 7 Hours of X Spaces comes just a day after blockchain sleuth Zach
Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, accused Shkreli of trying to “throw Barron under the bus” to clear his name.
Related: Donald Trump pledges to end Joe Biden’s ‘crypto war’
Several audience members at X Spaces said Shkreli’s version of events was stacked. Others disagreed, arguing that Trump wouldn’t be foolish enough to stir up controversy about his father in his election year.
Shkreli was convicted in federal court in 2017 of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. He served nearly seven years in prison and ended up paying more than $70 million in fines.
Some have suggested Shkreli’s latest involvement could violate his parole conditions, which he has denied.
“Read the law idiot,” Shkreli said of the 1.6 million-follower X account ‘BORED’, which said he would return to prison.
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