Vitalik Buterin warned that tokens are exploiting opportunities to promote boundless political bribery and manipulation.
Vitalik Buterin expressed concern that some crypto projects focus more on providing “sugar-high short-term fun” rather than fostering lasting wealth.
On X, Vitalik Buterin, one of Ethereum’s co-founders, raised concerns about the implications of politicians creating “political coins.”
Buterin commented on January 23, noting that the regulation surrounding digital assets has evolved into a “new order,” with “the most powerful people in the world [….] cheering on the idea of anyone creating tokens for anything, at any scale.”
While Buterin refrained from naming US President Donald Trump in relation to the Official Trump (TRUMP) token, he alluded to such projects being “sugar-high short-term fun” rather than long-term wealth-building.
“Now is the time to talk about the fact that large-scale political coins cross a further line: they are not just sources of fun, whose harm is at most contained to mistakes made by voluntary participants; they are vehicles for unlimited political bribery, including from foreign nation states,” said the Ethereum co-founder.
The Ethereum co-founder’s remarks echoed those from his July 2024 blog, where he warned voters against immediately backing political candidates solely based on their “pro-crypto” stance, advising them to “explore their underlying values” first.
With the TRUMP token’s introduction on January 17, many detractors, both from the crypto sector and other fields, raised concerns that foreign governments could leverage the token to influence the US president through hidden or direct purchases.
Read also: Ethereum marketing firm backed by Buterin & Foundation, targets Wall Street
The Foreign Emoluments Clause, as outlined in the US Constitution, forbids government officials from accepting gifts or compensation from foreign governments.
A January 21 report from Fortune stated that the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is investigating a potential lawsuit concerning the TRUMP token, but it expressed uncertainty about the strength of the legal case.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has also voiced criticism for the TRUMP token arguing in a letter that this “meme coin could hurt the very people President Trump says he is working to help.”
Trump’s presidency marked the first time a US president launched a cryptocurrency or developed such far-reaching financial links with foreign governments and corporations.
