Reports indicate that US President Donald Trump pressured Republicans who voted against a procedural vote to consider three crypto bills on Tuesday, but his memecoin could complicate the debate.
The imminent unlocking of a Trump-themed memecoin could add new layers to the ongoing debate over US legislation during “Crypto Week,” as Republicans rally behind three digital asset bills this week.
According to multiple sources, 90 million Official Trump tokens, valued at over $900 million, will unlock this week, allowing holders to sell the memecoin, which launched in January ahead of Trump’s second-term inauguration.
The unlock boosts the memecoin’s circulating supply by 45%, and this marks one of the most significant increases since the launch on January 17 made 200 million tokens available.
The token unlock follows Republicans losing a procedural vote to advance bills to regulate payment stablecoins, bar exploration of central bank digital currencies, and establish crypto market structure. Trump claimed to have convinced dissenting members of his party to change their votes when the matter returns to the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The memecoin project stated at launch that they would slowly unlock one billion tokens over three years. Data from Nansen.ai showed the price of TRUMP surged to $10.31 from $9.40 on Wednesday before returning to $10.09 at the time of publication.
Three Key Crypto Bills Head to Congressional Vote
On Wednesday, a majority of House lawmakers voted to reconsider a package of bills, which included the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act, and a crypto market structure bill called the CLARITY Act.
The House resolution failed its vote on Tuesday, but reportedly revived because Trump pressured many of the 13 Republicans who voted nay.
Many members of Congress have criticized Trump for his crypto ventures, which include the memecoin and hosting a dinner for its top holders, his family’s stake in World Liberty Financial, and claims that his policies intend to pay off cryptocurrency executives and companies who backed his 2024 campaign.
“The $TRUMP memecoin serves no purpose,” was stated by California Representative Maxine Waters’ office on Sunday. “It only has value because of Trump’s name and public profile. It exists only to extract money from investors and sell access to the White House.”
Waters and other Democrats in the House have proposed amendments specifically to address what they called “crypto corruption” facilitated by Trump and members of Congress. It remained unclear at the time of publication whether any of the provisions will gain enough support to pass.
