One of the first clips to circulate on social media featured Trump promising to provide a better regulatory environment for crypto businesses and entrepreneurs, and suggesting that this “hostility” was being introduced by the administration of US President Joe Biden and the Securities and Exchange Commission. When NFT fan “Malcolm” asked how he would handle this hostility and keep innovators in the United States, Trump responded: “We’ll stop because I don’t want to. If we want to adopt, we have to let them be here.” “We made NFTs trending again,” he said about NFTs. Trump also claimed that Mugshot NFTs and other collectibles from his collections were “making NFTs trending again,” a claim that was met with great enthusiasm from participants at a time when the NFT market was losing momentum.

To be invited to the dinner event, most attendees had to pay $4,653 or more for one of Trump’s Mugshot NFTs. Trump NFT Cards and Melania Trump’s 1776 Collection are among other digital art collections associated with Trump’s name.

Unsurprisingly, Trump dislikes the Jeo Boden (BODEN) memecoin associated with Biden, which currently has a market cap of over $260 million. “That’s too much money for a coin, I don’t like that investment,” he said. BODEN rose more than 10% shortly after Trump’s comments were shared on X.

But another Trump-related memecoin, Donald Tremp (TREMP), did well, rising nearly 110% in the same time frame. In a separate comment to his political rival, the billion-dollar businessman sarcastically implied that he has “no idea” what cryptocurrency is. “If you support cryptocurrency, reconsider voting for Trump.”

Trump had previously called Bitcoin a scam in 2021, but has warmed to Bitcoin and the industry in general in recent months. When asked if people should donate using cryptocurrencies, he said: “If you can’t, I’ll make sure you do it.” However, he still strongly prefers the US dollar to retain its dominance under the traditional banking system.

Trump also said he would never allow the creation of a digital currency at the central bank under his permission. The Mugshot NFT emerged after Trump surrendered to authorities in Georgia in August 2023, where he faced charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump is also on trial in a New York court in a criminal case in which he is accused of forging business documents in connection with a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, independent of his charges in Georgia, Florida and Washington, D.C. Trump has been on trial every day in a New York court since jury selection began on April 15. However, since the court does not meet on Wednesdays, he flew to his residence in Florida to hold the event on May 8.