{"id":917112,"date":"2026-07-06T21:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/917112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T21:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:13:19","slug":"im-now-broke-these-investors-lost-billions-buying-trump-stocks-and-crypto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/917112\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m Now Broke\u2019: These Investors Lost Billions Buying Trump Stocks And Crypto"},"content":{"rendered":"

V<\/strong>adim Fistikan <\/strong>started working at 17 and built the kind of savings that usually takes years of overtime, delayed purchases and adult restraint: more than $100,000 by the time he hit his late twenties. In 2021, the Washington State truck driver eyed a house near family in Florida, with a pool and a waterway that led to a river, and then the ocean. \u201cWe were thinking about pulling the trigger,\u201d he says. \u201cThen I saw this whole Trump thing going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Trump thing was the Trump Media and Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social. In October 2021, the president unveiled the business, promising a censorship-free platform and giving supporters a chance to invest via a special purpose acquisition company. Shares of the SPAC jumped 1,650% in two days, then fell about 30% by the start of the third. To Fistikan, that looked less like a warning than a discount. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m getting in,\u2019\u201d says the three-time Trump voter, who added to his bet until it hit $205,000. <\/p>\n

That investment is now worth $30,000. <\/p>\n

Fistikan logged onto Truth Social last fall to voice his frustrations. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Hey, this is a scam,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cAnd a lot of people were like, \u2018No, you\u2019re just a Trump hater.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018No. I was on board since day one. \u2026 I\u2019m now broke.\u201d <\/p>\n

He\u2019s not alone. Katherine Chiles, the SPAC\u2019s former chief financial officer, now uses her Truth Social account to promote a song accusing the president of selling out his supporters\u2014\u201cDonald Trump is a b—-.\u201d Chad Nedohin, a worship leader who once moonlighted as the unofficial captain of Trump Media\u2019s retail shareholders, now describes the company as a vehicle for enriching the president and his inner circle. \u201cWe\u2019re just poor cattle to them,\u201d Nedohin says. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t care about anyone.\u201d <\/p>\n

Throughout the president\u2019s life, his most remarkable creations\u2014whether casinos in Atlantic City, public offerings on the New York Stock Exchange or political movements across America\u2014all relied on one thing: believers. In 2021, Trump left the White House with an abundance of them\u2014and quickly got to work monetizing. To do so, he followed a process with three distinct stages. First, the invention: come up with a business concept, invest almost nothing, take a big chunk of equity. Second, the sale: stir up a frenzy among the faithful, cash out what you can. Third, the mess: watch the assets collapse, salvage the scraps. From 2021 to 2025, five Trump-family ventures reached public investors: Trump Media, World Liberty Financial, Trump\u2019s memecoin, Melania Trump\u2019s memecoin and American Bitcoin. <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just poor cattle to them. He doesn\u2019t care about anyone.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now, they are all hitting the messy stage. Trump Media shares are down 89% from their peak. World Liberty tokens have fallen 82%. The president\u2019s memecoin is off 98%. Melania\u2019s version has dropped 99%. Shares of American Bitcoin are down 95%. The Trumps, after cashing out $1.9 billion, are still up $3.1 billion overall, according to Forbes calculations. Their supporters are down an estimated $7 billion. <\/p>\n

Representatives of the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did spokespeople for Trump Media, which sued Forbes and other publications over allegedly inaccurate reporting about losses during the company\u2019s first year of operation. The White House ignored questions about the president\u2019s moneymaking ventures, issuing a statement on his policies instead. \u201cPresident Trump cares deeply about the patriotic Americans who elected him to office and fights for them daily,\u201d said deputy press secretary Anna Kelly. <\/p>\n

The human cost of all this lies in accounts like Fistikan\u2019s. He didn\u2019t just buy a stock. He bought a story, that Trump views his supporters as partners rather than tools. \u201cPretty much my whole life savings [was] in this one stock,\u201d says Fistikan. \u201cThis is the greatest theft, con job he has ever done.\u201d <\/p>\n

N<\/strong>ick Pinto was <\/strong>sitting inside Champions, the wood-heavy, leather-laden restaurant at Trump\u2019s Miami golf resort, in January 2025 when a Robinhood notification lit up his phone: Trump had launched a memecoin. <\/p>\n

Pinto, 26, makes most of his money creating videos for social-media platforms. His due diligence consisted of Googling around and hopping on X. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, let me buy some of this\u2014never know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d He initially invested $7,000. <\/p>\n

Pinto was part of a frenzy that delivered the first family an extraordinary windfall as Trump returned to the White House. The roots of it lay in World Liberty Financial, the crypto project the president had launched the previous September. Billionaire Justin Sun, facing allegations from the Securities and Exchanges Commission, invested $45 million in its token after Trump won the election, then put another $100 million into the president\u2019s memecoin. Melania Trump added a coin of her own. The three tokens traded furiously as Trump ascended to the throne, throwing off hundreds of millions in cash. <\/p>\n

Then the president added a perk: dinner at his Virginia club for the top 220 memecoin investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went crazy,\u201d says Pinto, who upped his bet to $480,000, allocating about 60% of his entire investment portfolio to the memecoin. That was enough to get him into the dinner, a scene both surreal and shoddy. Pinto says it felt like a wedding, with mediocre food and poor service. \u201cThey didn\u2019t even give me soda\u2014all I had was water.\u201d <\/p>\n

Another attendee remembers offering a cigarette to former NBA player Lamar Odom, who took a FaceTime call while they were standing outside. \u201cI\u2019m with these crypto kids!\u201d Odom told his caller, Khloe Kardashian.<\/p>\n

The memecoin slid downward after the event and never really recovered, losing two-thirds of its value by the end of the year. It was around that time that one of Pinto\u2019s friends, who had also attended the dinner, convinced him to turn on the coin. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that the Trump family kind of came up with out of the blue,\u201d Pinto says his friend told him, \u201cand there\u2019s not really a way for us to predict the future of the coin or what their plans for it are.\u201d <\/p>\n

Convinced, Pinto ditched 75% of his position, locking in roughly $250,000 in losses. He held onto the rest in case something wild happened. <\/p>\n

Something did. In April, Trump hosted another event, this one at Mar-a-Lago. Attendees received goodie bags with Trump trading cards, statuettes of the president filled with cologne and Trump watches. \u201cI almost didn\u2019t get one because people kept stealing mine,\u201d says Pinto, who recalls one attendee slipping out with six bags. \u201cMine got swiped, and then I saw a chair that was empty, so I swiped one, too.\u201d <\/p>\n

Memecoin Merch<\/strong>The president hosted two events for his memecoin holders, one at his golf course in Virginia and another at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Attendees walked away with bags full of Trump-branded tchotchkes. <\/p>\n

“I’m trying to convince the president to do this every six months,” Trump business partner Bill Zanker said during an event for memecoin holders at Mar-a-Lago in April.<\/p>\n

\u200e Smells Like Victory <\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the goodies: bottles of cologne, packaged in golden statuettes of Donald Trump that retail for $249 online. \u201cI haven\u2019t used it yet,\u201d says two-time memecoin event attendee Nick Pinto. \u201cI have it for decoration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Your Back <\/strong><\/p>\n

Red-faced watches became hot items at the Mar-a-Lago event. Online, the president sold other varieties, including one with pieces of the tie and suit he wore in his mugshot photo at the Fulton County Jail after he was indicted on racketeering and other charges in 2023. <\/p>\n

Face Value <\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump trading cards featured words the president shouted after a bullet grazed his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania: \u201cFight, Fight, Fight.\u201d <\/p>\n

Blackout<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Red MAGA hats are old news. Memecoin diners received black caps featuring the president, his signature and the name of his token, $TRUMP.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, let me buy some of this\u2014never know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some attendees wanted more than trumpery. Before the initial dinner, Huma Finance cofounder Erbil Karaman upped his investment, knowing the White House was considering legislation related to stablecoins, dollar-tracking cryptocurrencies that his company uses to help people move money overseas. Karaman says he did not do any lobbying at the event. Two months later, he accepted an invitation to the White House for a bill signing. <\/p>\n

The people who did best with Trump\u2019s memecoin tended to be the ones who cared least about it. Morten Christensen, founder of the crypto site airdropalert.com, bought the coin right after it launched, then ditched it when the hype started to fade a few days later. He says he made about 30 times his money on the trade. To attend Trump\u2019s dinner, he bought and shorted the coin simultaneously, securing a seat for the first event for about $1,200 in fees and a spot at the second for $500. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe MAGA people, they really believe,\u201d Christensen says. \u201cI’m just here for the profit. I’m in some group chats with believers, and they are really good at ignoring facts or data. \u2026 I kind of feel sorry for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even Justin Sun no longer pretends Trump\u2019s crypto offerings are good investments. In a lawsuit filed in April, he alleged World Liberty pushed him to increase his investment, then froze his assets after he balked. Sun accused World Liberty of defrauding and extorting him. World Liberty said it had the right to freeze Sun\u2019s tokens and countersued for defamation. Sun also alleges that, after World Liberty sent so much money to Trump and other insiders, the venture began taking on risky loans. The man who, more than anyone not named Trump, sold the project to the masses now describes it as \u201con the verge of collapse.\u201d <\/p>\n

How A Capitol Uprising Led To Capital Raising<\/strong> January 6, 2021<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol building. Twitter boots Trump, giving him a story to sell. Amazon drops web hosting for Parler, a right-wing social-media network, creating a void in the market. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

January 27, 2021<\/strong> <\/p>\n

One week after leaving office, Trump meets with two former Apprentice contestants at Mar-a-Lago to discuss creating a media and technology empire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

October 20, 2021<\/strong> <\/p>\n

The president reveals the Trump Media and Technology Group, a social-media company that aims to create a Trump-friendly ecosystem online, starting with a Twitter clone named Truth Social. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

October 22, 2021<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Shares of Digital World, the special-purpose acquisition company planning to take Trump Media public, hit an all-time high of $175, implying that Trump\u2019s barely-in-existence venture is worth more than $25 billion. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

March 25, 2024<\/strong> <\/p>\n

After years of holdups, Trump Media finally merges with Digital World, becoming a publicly traded company. Shares jump 59% the next day. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

September 30, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the final stretch of his presidential campaign, Trump delivers an announcement: \u201cI promised to Make America Great Again, this time with crypto,\u201d he writes on Truth Social. \u201c#WorldLibertyFi is planning to help make America the crypto capital of the world!\u201d The project struggles to gain traction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

November 5, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump defeats Kamala Harris, becoming the first president to win nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in 1892. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

November 25, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun, contending with charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission, purchases $30 million of World Liberty tokens, energizing the project, which eventually delivers more than $800 million to Trump.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

January 17, 2025<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Three days before his inauguration, Trump launches a memecoin. The fine print warns buyers that it is not intended to be an investment. The president\u2019s supporters pile in anyway, sparking a trading frenzy that ultimately provides more than $600 million to the president. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

January 19, 2025<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Melania Trump announces a memecoin of her own, part of a broader effort to enhance her personal balance sheet. A financial disclosure suggests the token, which has fallen 99% from its high, supplies $6 million to the first lady. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

May 12, 2025<\/strong> <\/p>\n

American Bitcoin reveals plans to merge with a SPAC. Investors gobble up shares, boosting the price 448%. It has since dropped 96%. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A<\/strong>s believers become <\/strong>skeptics, the Trumps are shifting assets in telling ways. <\/p>\n

World Liberty, which pitched itself as a vehicle to upend traditional finance, delivered about $850 million to Trump, who has since loaded up on the least exotic asset in finance, municipal bonds. Trump Media, meanwhile, has become less a social-media company than a hoard of bitcoin. It raised $2.4 billion through equity and debt when shares were riding high, then put the proceeds into the cryptocurrency near its peak. <\/p>\n

That erased about $1 billion of shareholder capital. It also gave the company an asset that appears to be more enduring than Truth Social, the \u201cfree-speech\u201d platform that recently suspended a Forbes reporter who used it to contact shareholders. For a company that promises to give people a voice, Trump Media seems to have a rather narrow view of who should use one. <\/p>\n

First sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who manage their fathers\u2019 holdings on a day-to-day basis while he serves as president, have adopted the old man\u2019s playbook for themselves. In March 2025, they struck a deal with a data-center company for 20% of its bitcoin-mining machines, then rebranded the business as American Bitcoin. <\/p>\n

What did the data-center company receive in return? A crowd of investors wrapped up in a Trump-tied hype cycle, into which it could dump enough shares to more than make up for the 20% of forfeited equity. The companies announced a deal to go public via SPAC on May 12, 2025, and shares of the SPAC jumped 448%. <\/p>\n

Ryan Kenney, a 41-year-old military spouse who studied architecture but now spends much of his time raising two kids, thought he was getting into American Bitcoin early and cheap when he invested $60,000 after prices pulled back the next week. The stock\u2019s value was in its buzz, not the fundamentals. That made the standard meme-stock rallying cries\u2014\u201cBuy the dip!\u201d \u201cAverage down!\u201d\u2014especially dangerous. Kenney kept buying, ultimately upping his investment to $98,000. It\u2019s now worth $9,000. <\/p>\n

Lately, he has been thinking about others in a similar predicament. And the scale of their losses. \u201cMaybe people didn\u2019t lose as much as I did,\u201d he says, \u201cbut that might be hundreds of thousands of Americans all losing five grand.\u201d <\/p>\n

Then there is Fistikan, still dreaming of that Florida house. With his savings wiped out, he settled for an overgrown, $18,000 lot, figuring he could build on it. Someday. The Iran war drove diesel prices above $6 in the Pacific Northwest, where he hauls loads, cutting into his earnings. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would make the same amount of money if I was flipping burgers,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Recently, short on cash, Fistikan had to sell something. He could have liquidated his Trump Media shares, which still appear overheated as the company bleeds hundreds of millions of dollars a year while maintaining a market cap more than triple the value of its underlying bitcoin holdings. But Trump-tied investments are not moved chiefly by discounted cash flow. It\u2019s more loyalty and the hope that another rally is just one frenzy away.<\/p>\n

So Fistikan sold his F-150 pickup. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the Trump trade in miniature. The dream was a house in Florida near the water. The outcome, for now, is an overgrown lot, a clobbered investment account and just enough cash to stay afloat. <\/p>\n

More from Forbes<\/strong><\/p>\n

ForbesHow Eric Trump Got Rich From Bitcoin While Losing Investors A FortuneBy Dan Alexander<\/a>ForbesTrump\u2019s Tax Immunity Could Save Him More Than $600 MillionBy Dan Alexander<\/a>ForbesTrump Took Out Giant, Mysterious Loan Last YearBy Dan Alexander<\/a>ForbesHow The Trumps Blew $1 Billion On BitcoinBy Dan Alexander<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vadim Fistikan started working at 17 and built the kind of savings that usually takes years of overtime,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":917113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[311997,1605,39024,148712,370471,50,277,76664,370470,67,132,68,370472,27186],"class_list":["post-917112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-american-bitcoin","tag-donald-trump-jr","tag-eric-trump","tag-melania","tag-memecoin","tag-news","tag-trump","tag-trump-media","tag-trump-media-and-technology-group","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-world-liberty","tag-world-liberty-financial"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116875100695817258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}