Trump Wallet scandal: Is Magic Eden really involved or just dragged in?
The emergence of the TRUMP Wallet
On June 3, 2025, a website promoting the “Official $TRUMP Wallet” surfaced, claiming to offer users the ability to trade cryptocurrencies, including a Trump-branded memecoin. The site prominently featured Magic Eden as a partner, lending an air of legitimacy to the project. However, the Trump family swiftly disavowed any association with the wallet.
Unveiled by Fight Fight Fight, a company tied to Trump associate Bill Zanker, the Official Trump Wallet claimed to offer crypto features and collectibles under the Trump brand. The wallet promised integration with leading cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), Ether (ETH), Magic Eden’s own ME (ME) token, alongside “all other tokens.”
Magic Eden, a reputable NFT marketplace operating primarily on Solana, was listed as a “partner” on the project’s site. The platform boasted Slingshot Finance infrastructure, a technology acquired by Magic Eden in April 2025, and offered $1 million in Official Trump (TRUMP) rewards to early users and referrers.
The involvement of Magic Eden lent an air of credibility to the wallet, encouraging some early user interest in what many believed to be a sanctioned Trump initiative.
However, events soon took a dramatic turn.
Trump family denounces the wallet
Within hours of the announcement, members of the Trump family issued coordinated public statements disavowing the project. Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump all denied any involvement with the wallet, categorically asserting that no approval had been granted for the use of the Trump name.
Simultaneously, World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s official crypto platform, announced its own upcoming wallet initiative, further escalating the narrative from mere disapproval to a competitive conflict.
In response to the perceived infringement, World Liberty Financial delivered cease-and-desist letters to both Fight Fight Fight and Magic Eden. The legal action centered on brand misappropriation and the unauthorized commercialization of the Trump name in the digital asset space.
Did you know? Following the cease-and-desist letter and the immediate public backlash, the “Official $TRUMP Wallet” project was effectively halted. The TrumpWallet.com website, which had been promoting the waitlist, went offline.
The role of Magic Eden: An active player or unwilling participant?
As accusations flew, attention turned toward Magic Eden. Was the company a co-creator of the Trump Wallet, or had it merely been name-dropped without consent?
Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu posted on X that the “Official $TRUMP Wallet” would be accessible via TrumpWallet.com, highlighting it as “the first and only crypto wallet for true Trump fans” and stating, “DeFi can finally support seamless UX and regulatory clarity is finally allowing crypto to thrive in the US. The time to take big bets & onboard mainstream is now.”
Such public statements suggest direct involvement and endorsement, implying that Magic Eden viewed the wallet not as a speculative venture but as a formally aligned product within its broader DeFi strategy. The wallet’s technical foundation, built on Slingshot Finance, along with expansive multi-token support and a $1-million TRUMP reward pool, reinforced the impression that this was a well-planned and deeply integrated launch.
Despite the clear affirmation from Magic Eden’s leadership, the Trump family’s immediate and coordinated disavowals cast doubt on the legitimacy of the branding. The situation raised questions about whether Magic Eden had misunderstood the scope of its previous interactions with the TRUMP token team, possibly assuming that past NFT collaborations granted broader brand rights, or whether it had relied on assurances from Fight Fight Fight without verifying direct authorization from the Trump family or their affiliated crypto entity, World Liberty Financial.
Regardless, the wallet launch reflects a broader industry issue. In the absence of centralized regulatory frameworks and with brand licensing often handled informally in Web3, even major platforms can miscalculate the boundaries of celebrity-affiliated digital assets.
Fight Fight Fight and Bill Zanker’s involvement
At the center of the Trump Wallet controversy is Fight Fight Fight, the entity responsible for developing and promoting the TRUMP memecoin.
The firm is led by Bill Zanker, a longtime associate of Donald Trump and co-author of the 2007 business book Think Big. Zanker’s past affiliation with Trump added a layer of perceived credibility to the crypto initiative, particularly for observers outside the tight inner circle of the Trump Organization.
Fight Fight Fight has positioned itself as the primary force behind the TRUMP token ecosystem and has led several promotional campaigns presenting the token as aligned with Trump’s values and branding. According to public sources, the company leveraged its existing network and marketing infrastructure to push the “Official $TRUMP Wallet,” which it claimed would serve as a one-stop financial gateway for Trump supporters within the broader crypto market.
Fight Fight Fight and control of the TRUMP token
A critical piece of the puzzle is Fight Fight Fight’s significant control over the TRUMP token. Together with another entity, CIC Digital, Fight Fight Fight holds a commanding 80% of TRUMP’s total supply, a figure that grants it substantial influence over the token’s ecosystem and utility. This level of control raises serious questions about governance, decentralization and how token ecosystems intersect with brand identity and celebrity endorsements.
The TRUMP token, a Solana Program Library (SPL) asset launched in early 2025, gained rapid traction as a meme-driven cryptocurrency aligned, at least in public perception, with Donald Trump’s branding. The token’s promotional materials referred to it as “the official meme coin associated with President Donald Trump,” and events such as a private dinner hosted by Trump for top tokenholders further cemented the appearance of legitimacy. The dinner, which reportedly attracted over $148 million in contributions and included notable crypto figures like Justin Sun, significantly bolstered the token’s public image.
However, the Trump family’s swift legal response, through World Liberty Financial, underscored that control over a token does not confer blanket rights to use the Trump name across unrelated financial products. This distinction is vital in a space where brand association is often informal and where the line between official partnerships and opportunistic branding remains dangerously thin.
Did you know? Crypto billionaire Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain, emerged as the top holder of the TRUMP memecoin, reportedly investing over $40 million.
Trump family to launch “Official” wallet through World Liberty Financial
In response to the fiasco, the Trump family has announced plans to develop their own authenticated digital wallet, managed through World Liberty Financial.
Donald Trump Jr., who serves as World Liberty Financial’s “Web3 ambassador,” publicly confirmed the development of an authenticated Trump-affiliated wallet.
The US president’s involvement in cryptocurrency has grown notably in recent years, with multiple NFT collections like the Trump Digital Trading Cards achieving high sales volumes. The Trump family holds equity in WLFI and profits indirectly from transaction fees generated by the platform.
World Liberty Financial has already demonstrated its significant presence in the crypto space, having raised over $550 million through token sales, and is currently under scrutiny for its USD1 stablecoin. The existence of World Liberty Financial and its plans for an “official” wallet serve as a clear warning to external parties that any use of the Trump name in crypto-related products must be explicitly authorized.
Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz weighed in on the Trump Wallet controversy via a now-unavailable X post, describing the situation as unusual and highlighting the conflicting positions between Magic Eden, GetTrumpMemes and the Trump family. He observed that GetTrumpMemes is owned by Fight Fight Fight, the entity behind the TRUMP coin, and co-owned by CIC Digital, a company reportedly linked to The Trump Organization. Schwartz suggested that the controversy was more likely the result of a miscommunication or misunderstanding than deliberate fraud.
Did you know? In response to concerns over potential conflicts of interest arising from political figures’ involvement in cryptocurrency ventures, US Senator Chris Murphy introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act. This proposed legislation aims to prohibit the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior executive branch officials and their immediate family members from issuing, sponsoring or endorsing digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and memecoins.
Implications for NFT marketplaces and future regulation
The resulting legal backlash from the launch of the TRUMP Wallet underscores the potential legal exposure platforms face when projects use high-profile branding without verified authorization.
The Trump Wallet scandal may catalyze change in how NFT marketplaces vet projects and enforce brand-related safeguards. The dispute has demonstrated that additional layers of brand verification may be necessary, including:
- Stronger vetting protocols before listing projects
- Legal disclaimers clarifying platform responsibility
- Brand verification mechanisms to prevent unauthorized use.
This case has also attracted broader attention due to its overlap with political branding and financial products, areas increasingly scrutinized by lawmakers. While no regulatory actions have been announced directly in response to the Trump Wallet, the event adds to a growing list of high-profile crypto branding disputes that may influence how regulatory frameworks evolve around digital asset endorsements, platform accountability and consumer protection.
