A Twitter account linked to Donald Trump promoted a token called $GOLD before wallets associated with the project appeared to sell their holdings. The incident highlighted how Trump-linked accounts can be used to lend credibility to speculative cryptocurrency tokens.
The account realtrumpcoins1, which is followed by @realDonaldTrump and describes itself as an "Official Partner of The Trump Organization," posted promotional material for $GOLD. Coin Bureau flagged the posts as an apparent hack, though neither the account holder nor the Trump Organization has separately confirmed the account was compromised.
Supply Concentration and Market Manipulation
Analysis by Lookonchain revealed significant concentration in $GOLD's token supply. The developer held 600 million tokens, and 15 new wallets paid $18,657 to obtain 224.5 million tokens. This combination gave a small group control of 82.45% of the supply, making the market vulnerable to coordinated moves.
These 15 tracked wallets subsequently sold their holdings for approximately 3,178 SOL, equivalent to around $330,000. Lookonchain estimated their gross profit at approximately $312,000, representing a margin multiple of 17.
Broader Fraud Trends
The $GOLD incident reflects a growing problem in cryptocurrency markets. Chainalysis found that scam addresses received at least $14 billion on-chain in 2025, with the total potentially exceeding $17 billion. Impersonation scams surged more than 1,400% year over year.
The pattern typically involves a seemingly legitimate account, new token creation, and rapid purchases before verification occurs. Each such incident complicates efforts by legitimate cryptocurrency projects to establish trust.
Unconfirmed Attribution and Prior Incidents
Some reports attributed the compromise to Iranian hackers, though this claim has not been independently confirmed. The timing coincided with reports of an Iranian state-media video appearing to threaten Barron Trump, referencing a $10 million prize—the same figure later invoked by the compromised account.
This is not the first time accounts in Trump's orbit have been compromised for cryptocurrency scams. In February 2025, the X account of World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff was hacked and used to promote a fake Barron Trump memecoin. Ivanka Trump had similarly warned about an unauthorized memecoin using her likeness.
