Martin Shkreli, the co-founder of hedge funds Elea Capital, MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare who was convicted of securities fraud, has claimed that he and the youngest son of former President Donald Trump are behind the creation of the DJT crypto token, according to a report by MarketWatch.
On Wednesday, blockchain firm Arkham Intelligence offered a $150,000 reward for information on the token’s creators, shortly after which Shkreli disclosed to online crypto investigator ZachXBT that he collaborated with Barron Trump on the token’s launch.
In a message to ZachXBT, Shkreli stated: “I have over 1000 pieces of evidence I created it with Barron.”
Shkreli’s claim follows a price spike of up to 180% in the token’s value, following a report from Pirate Wires alleging Barron Trump led the token’s creation. Initially launched in April, DJT, a token based on the Solana blockchain, had remained relatively obscure until these rumors emerged.
ZachXBT later identified transaction data indicating a major DJT holder sold $832,174 worth of the token through an account also holding significant amounts of the Shoggoth token, which is tied to Shkreli’s Shmartoggoth.ai project.
Shkreli, who was released from prison in May 2022, was convicted in 2018 of securities fraud related to his management of MSMB Capital Management and the pharmaceutical company Retrophin. He gained notoriety in 2015 as “Pharma Bro” after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, acquired the rights to daraprim, which is used to treat a life-threatening parasitic infection, and dramatically raised its price per tablet to $750 from $13.50.
