Man Went From Betting $7K to $480K on Trump's Memecoin to Attend Exclusive Dinner, Then Lost $250K

Nick Pinto turned a $7,000 (£5,180) bet on Donald Trump's memecoin into a $480,000 (£355,000) position, enough to win a seat at the president's dinner for the coin's biggest holders. Months later he sold most of it at a loss of about $250,000 (£185,000). He is one of many Trump supporters who have lost money backing the family's crypto and stock ventures.

Pinto, a 26-year-old social media content creator from New Jersey, also trades crypto. He was sitting in the Champions restaurant at Trump's Miami golf resort in January 2025 when a Robinhood alert told him the president had launched a coin, he told Forbes. His research amounted to a few searches and a scroll through X. He put in $7,000 (£5,180).

Trump then added an incentive, promising the top 220 holders of the $TRUMP token a dinner at his golf club in Virginia. 'I went crazy', Pinto said, raising his stake to $480,000 (£355,000), around 60% of his entire investment portfolio. He finished 72nd on the contest leaderboard, he told CNBC, which reviewed screenshots of his holdings.

The Dinner in Virginia

The gala took place on 22 May 2025 at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, outside Washington. The 220 guests had spent a combined $148M (£110M) on the token to attend, according to crypto analytics firm Inca Digital. Trump arrived by Marine One, spoke briefly, and left without taking questions. Crypto billionaire Justin Sun topped the guest leaderboard.

Several guests complained about the catering. Pinto texted Fortune during the banquet that the meal was 'Walmart steak, man'. He told Forbes he was not offered a soft drink and drank only water. The token was worth about $14 (£10) that day, down from a January high of about $75 (£55), and dropped a further 16% the morning after.

Selling at a Loss

The coin slid further after the event and did not recover, losing roughly two-thirds of its remaining value by the end of 2025, according to Forbes. Late that year, a friend who had also attended the dinner persuaded Pinto that neither of them could predict what the Trump family planned for the token.

Convinced, Pinto sold 75% of his position, locking in about $250,000 (£185,000) in losses. He kept the rest, and attended a second holders' event at Mar-a-Lago in April 2026.

One Buyer Among Many

Pinto is not the only buyer to have lost money. Five Trump-family ventures reached public investors between 2021 and 2025: Trump Media, World Liberty Financial, the $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins, and American Bitcoin. All have fallen from their peaks, by 82% to 99%, according to Forbes calculations. The publication estimates that supporters are down about $7B (£5.2B), while the Trumps, after cashing out around $1.9B (£1.4B), are up roughly $3.1B (£2.3B) overall.

Vadim Fistikan, a Washington State truck driver, put $205,000 (£152,000) into Trump Media, the company behind Truth Social. It is now worth about $30,000 (£22,000). 'I'm now broke', he told Forbes. Short on cash, he later sold his pickup. Ryan Kenney, a 41-year-old military spouse, raised his stake in American Bitcoin to $98,000 (£73,000); it is now worth about $9,000 (£6,700).

Who Profited

The memecoin generated about $635M (£470M) for Trump during its first year, according to his 2025 financial disclosure. Justin Sun put $45M (£33M) into World Liberty's token and $100M (£74M) into the memecoin, according to Forbes. He later sued World Liberty in a California federal court, alleging it froze his tokens after he declined to invest further. The firm said the freeze was a contractual security measure over suspicious trading, including straw purchases through third parties and short selling, and it countersued him for defamation in Florida.

The Trump Organization did not issue any comments on its crypto ventures. Nor did Trump Media, which brought a separate 2023 defamation suit against Forbes and other outlets over unrelated reporting.

The White House said the president cares about the Americans who elected him and fights for them daily.

Pinto has not said whether he recovered any of the money. He still holds a fraction of the coin and a cologne bottle he collected at the Mar-a-Lago event.