Investing.com -- TD Cowen managing director Jaret Seiberg raised concerns that the recent issuance of a Donald Trump meme coin could pose challenges to bipartisan efforts to pass cryptocurrency market structure legislation.
According to the analyst, the Democrats are expected to seek detailed information on the purchasers of the coins, potentially to determine if foreign governments or businesses used the tokens to gain favor with the Trump team.
“This puts at risk the ability to advance the crypto bill with the bipartisan support it will need to become law,” Seiberg said in a note.
He pointed out that the introduction of the Trump coin might lead to increased demands from Democrats for transparency regarding the buyers and the reasons behind the coin's price increase.
“They will be searching for indications that foreign governments, foreign businesses and domestic companies are using the coin to influence Trump's decision-making. They also will demand details on how the Trump family is monetizing this investment,” Seiberg explained.
In turn, Republicans will likely respond to these inquiries, the analyst added, potentially increasing partisan tensions and complicating the pursuit of a bipartisan agreement on the crypto market structure.
“We also do not expect the Trump family or the Trump administration to cooperate with any Democratic investigations,” he added.
Seiberg suggests that a possible solution to this impasse could be a two-pronged strategy where Democrats conduct an investigation into the Trump coin separately from the legislative efforts. Such an approach might allow for the continuation of the market structure bill's progress while addressing concerns about the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture.
Despite these complications, Seiberg believes that the passage of the crypto market structure bill may already have been delayed until 2026 due to both parties focusing on fundraising for the midterm elections. This delay could provide Democrats with sufficient time to complete their investigation into the Trump coin before the market structure legislation is put to a vote.
Trump coins and Bitcoin experienced a downturn on Tuesday after President Trump's initial policy announcements omitted any mention of digital assets.
Bitcoin, which hit an all-time high of $109,071 on Monday during Trump's inauguration, fell to $103,740.0 on Tuesday. The meme coin $TRUMP, launched just days prior, saw a similar pattern, climbing from $6.50 at launch to $74.59 on Monday before retreating to $39.56.