Author: Brayden Lindrea, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Baishui, Golden Finance
Martin Shkreli, aka “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 keys to its smart contract address.
Shkreli, who served more than six years in prison for securities fraud, claims that Barron Trump approached him in April about launching a Solana-based token — now worth $146 million, according to Birdseye data.
Barron Trump and his representatives have yet to make a public statement on the matter.
In an X Spaces hosted by Mario Nawfal, Shkreli claimed that he was only assisting his “friend” Barron Trump with advice on the token launch, but was not actively involved in deploying the token itself.
Instead, he claimed that Barron Trump was the true creator of DJT, adding that crypto influencer “Ansem” was also involved.
“I taught some people how to make the connection, but they pushed the button, not me. Trump had the key, not me,” Shkreli said in an X post. On X Spaces on Tuesday, Shkreli suggested that 10 people were involved in the token launch.
“I did not act alone.”
He also claimed that Barron Trump contacted cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to discuss the possibility of listing DJT.
He also claimed that Donald Trump not only knew about the DJT token, but “approved it.”
“I have a receipt from Barron saying his dad approved it.”
Shkreli tried to bolster his case by bringing “Mongolian Prince” into X-space — a teen with fewer than 500 X followers who has also allegedly worked with Shkreli.
Mongolian Prince was visibly shy, and when one viewer asked him if Barron minted the tokens and if he had the private keys, he responded with “hmm.”
“Who deployed the contract,” another viewer asked. “Barron,” the monologue prince responded.
“[Barron] wants to do something special and meaningful, and we all want to help him.”
Source: Pastry ETH
The Mongolian Prince claims that he recently met with Barron Trump in Florida, but according to the Mongolian Prince, his account of Donald Trump’s alleged involvement is far less clear.
The Mongolian Prince claimed that Barron showed his Solana-based Phantom wallet to his father before the DJT token was launched, and his father allegedly just laughed it off.
His seven-hour X Spaces came a day after blockchain detective ZachXBT was awarded a $150,000 reward from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence for allegedly identifying Shkreli as the creator of the DJT token.
Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, accused Shkreli of “trying to put Barron in danger” in an effort to clear his own name.
Several viewers of the X Spaces said Shkreli’s version of events made sense. Others disagreed, claiming that Barron Trump wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk creating controversy for his father in an election year.
In 2017, Shkreli was convicted in federal court of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. He served nearly seven years in prison and paid about $70 million in fines.
Some believe Shkreli's recent involvement may have violated the conditions of his parole, although Shkreli denies that.
"Read the law, idiot," Shkreli said in response to an X-account "BORED," which has 1.6 million followers, saying he would return to prison.
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