Just over a year ago, I standing Held in a gilded ballroom in Washington, D.C., during the inaugural weekend, he was surrounded by blockchain industry executives and investors. They traded in hoodies for tuxedos and gowns to celebrate the ascension of the first “crypto president,” Donald Trump, who embraced the once-rebellious industry on the campaign trail. But by midnight, rumors began to spread among the crowd that Trump, who was not in attendance, had launched his own meme coin. By the end of Snoop Dogg’s DJ set, Trumpcoin had topped $1 billion.
Some savvy viewers immediately recorded what happened. Trump has made a career out of everything from casinos to steaks to unaccredited universities, and he’s done the same in cryptocurrency. Will Trump’s latest business venture go the way of Trump Tower or Trump University?
As we quickly discovered, the quality of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture was almost a red herring (despite our close coverage of it, including in my colleague Ben Weiss’s excellent article ) New features for US Bitcoin). In contrast, ethics regulators argued Trump uses his blockchain business as a way to sell access. But unlike concerns during his first term that foreign dignitaries could book rooms at Trump hotels, which taught millions of Americans the word “pay,” now anyone with an internet connection can effectively wire millions of dollars to Trump and get paid in return by setting up a digital wallet. He has the highest memecoin holdings Enjoy it very much A private meeting with the president last May, though not all Happy through the food they provide.
In hindsight, these moral questions also seem strange. Saturday night, wall street journal Published bombshell report Just days before Trump’s inauguration, two deputies to members of the Abu Dhabi royal family signed a contract to inject $500 million into the Trump family’s cryptocurrency platform, World Liberty Financial, in exchange for 49% ownership. as Magazine To be clear, this is unprecedented in American politics: “Foreign government officials hold major stakes in the incoming U.S. president’s company.” Just months later, the Trump administration allowed the United Arab Emirates to use advanced U.S. chips despite widespread security concerns (although a spokesman for the World Freedom Organization Tell wealth The deal has nothing to do with government action on chips).
As shockwaves from the scandal reverberate, an awkward question remains: Is Trump bad for blockchain? The industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the 2024 election, culminating in the coronation of Trump, who has championed digital asset regulation, hosted summits and appointed a czar. But now, the landmark Clarification Act is stagnant In the Senate, Democrats are calling for an ethics provision that would ban the president from profiting from cryptocurrency holdings, and the tide of opposition is only growing. Despite Trump’s cheers, Bitcoin prices remain almost at their lowest in a year, with many retail traders keep away.
For many Americans, cryptocurrencies are now inextricably linked to the Trump family. Be careful what you wish for.
M&A madness…space exploration technologies corp. The completion of the long-rumored acquisition of xAI, both companies owned by Elon Musk, is a stunning deal that could make the joint venture one of the largest IPOs in history. This is a few months after the xAI acquisition Xis another of Musk’s ventures, a month after it closed in a $33 billion all-stock deal Tesla Revealed that it has invested $2 billion in xAI. According to Bloomberg, the new deal will bring the total enterprise value to $1.25 trillion. You can read all about it here.
Leo Schwartz
X： @leomschwartz
e-mail: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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venture capital deals
– Shield Technology Partneris an IT services platform based in Tampa, Florida that raised $100 million in funding Xingsheng Holdings.
– recipientis a Barcelona, Spain-based company using artificial intelligence to transform the way clinical trials are designed and conducted, and has raised $52 million in Series A funding from: daylight saving time global Partners, Mustard Seed Mazeas well as existing investors Northern Lights VC and YZR capital.
– daytime artificial intelligencean AI-native customer relationship management platform based in Boston, Massachusetts, raised $20 million in Series A funding. redwood capital Lead this round and join Sound Ventures, permanent capital, convictionand greenoaks.
– Linka Birmingham, Alabama-based platform designed to enable artificial intelligence agents to iMessage, text and call users, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. total mass venture capital The round was led by investors, with participation from angel investors.
– plugSanta Monica, California-based electric vehicle marketplace, raised $20 million in Series A funding. speed of light Lead this round and join galvanized and existing investors.
– taxiThe Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based company that provides gig workers with credit to purchase vehicles and incentivizes them to work toward vehicle ownership has raised $15 million in funding. E3 capital and jango capital Lead this round and join Kawi Safi venture capital and Kool 8 capital.
– Inkardis a London, UK-based financial platform designed for e-commerce operations that has raised £10 million ($13.7 million) in Series A funding. smart fin Lead this round and join Founder capital, Shante Fundand angel investors.
– Circular Artificial Intelligencea San Francisco-based agency AI platform designed for marketing, finance and operations teams in the restaurant and retail industries, has raised $14 million in Series A funding. Nikka Partners Lead this round and join Gokul Rajaram, base 10, Havre capital, convergence, Alumni venture capitaland others.
– Same as aboveis a Berkeley, California-based artificial intelligence dating program company for college students that raised $9.2 million in seed funding. peak fifteen Partners Lead this round and join slope, Paint venture capital, Alumni venture capitaland camel venture capital.
– arboris a New York-based enterprise-run artificial intelligence research platform that raised $6.3 million through seed and pre-seed rounds. Chapter 645 venture capital Lead this round and join Next Play venture capital, Chuck venture capital, comma capitaland angel investors.
– super element recoveryis an Austin, Texas-based critical minerals recycling and refining company that raised $2 million. Crucible Capital led the round and also participated in the round UT Seed Fund, climate capital, portmanto venture capitaland Pew Conservation Trust.
private equity
– Vision Innovation Partner,Depend on Griffin Investorsobtained alexandria ophthalmology associationis an eye clinic located in Alexandria, Virginia. Financial terms were not disclosed.
quit
– G2 obtained Captraa software discovery platform based in Arlington, Virginia, Software recommendationsa software discovery platform based in Austin, Texas, and Get the appis a software discovery platform from Gartner based in Stamford, Connecticut. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Fund + Fund of Funds
– Constructor capitalis a Zurich, Switzerland-based venture capital firm that has raised $110 million for its first fund focused on deep tech, software and education technology companies.
people
– Bregar Sagemonta private equity firm based in New York City and Palo Alto, Calif. Promoted will Breskeman Partners. return, harrison Brunelli and Steve Griffin Was promoted to principal.
– brighton park capitala Greenwich, Calif.-based private equity firm, was hired Connie Hale as a partner. Previously, she had worked with Arsenal Capital Partners.
– everywhere Partnersa New York City-based venture capital firm, hired Anna barber as general partner. Previously, she was a venture partner at: this fund He has since served on the boards of several companies.
– iron spring venture capitala venture capital firm based in Austin, Texas, hired Drew Collins As a principal. Previously, he served as senior counsel at: standard invest.