Senator Chris Murphy Accuses Trump of Running Crypto Backdoor Bribery Scheme

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) reignited controversy on April 9 by accusing Donald Trump of running a covert bribery operation tied to his personal cryptocurrency, $TRUMP.

“Today is the 80th day that the U.S. President is running a backdoor bribery scheme in which any CEO or foreign oligarch can send him money secretly through his crypto coin scam in exchange for favors,” Murphy said.

“It’s the biggest scandal in the history of the Presidency,” he added.

Despite Murphy’s accusations, responses on X included skepticism from several users.

“All transactions are on the blockchain, so I’m not sure how secret it can be,” one user replied. “I would love to see your research into these allegations.”

“Post your proof,” said another.

Market Uncertainty Rises After Trump’s Tariff Pause

Murphy has repeatedly criticized the $TRUMP meme coin since its January launch, when Trump and his wife introduced the token alongside MELANIA, a matching cryptocurrency.

According to CoinGecko , the $TRUMP coin peaked at $72.62 on January 19, reaching a market cap of $14.58 billion.

The coin has since declined, falling over 13% in the past week.

Murphy’s criticism came one day after Trump reversed course on his recent tariffs , pausing them for 90 days amid market uncertainty.

Stocks still declined Thursday, fueling concerns over the trade conflict with China.

Before the market opened Wednesday, Trump had told his followers on Truth Social that it was a “GREAT TIME TO BUY,” leading Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) to call for a congressional investigation into possible insider trading.

Despite public backlash and online debate, no official investigation into the TRUMP coin has been launched to date.