On the inaugural day of Token2049 Dubai, Bloomberg ETF analyst and journalist Eric Balchunas took a swipe at President Donald Trump and his family’s personal stakes in crypto, prompting amusement among the audience, as he wondered if there would be any buyers for “Trump and Melania ETFs”.
Eric’s sharp, tongue-in-cheek question to a Token2049 panel quickly became the highlight of the session:
“A Trump ETF, a Trump coin ETF, and a 2x Melania. Who here will buy that?”
The crowd chuckled, but Balchunas pressed the irony. “You’re going to say that the Trump coin ETF is not appropriate for investors, yet your boss has basically launched the coin for investors? How does that work?”
While the room absorbed the bold remark, Jan van Eck, the CEO of VanEck, offered a grounded response. “The SEC may approve them, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be easily available,” he said.
Drawing from experience, he noted that neither VanEck nor Balchunas’s firm had launched leveraged or inverse ETFs, citing concerns over poor investor outcomes.
“It’s not really the government’s job to say this is good or bad… I do think it’s the role of these intermediaries, like the broker-dealers, to say, ‘Put those cautionary brakes on,” he added, stressing that brokerages often act as a layer of protection for retail investors.
Balchunas pushed the discussion further: “Let’s say the Trump ETF takes off for whatever reason. Do you then seriously consider futures on it? Where do you stop the futures launching?”
The question drew a direct response from Giovanni Vicioso, the Global Head of Cryptocurrency at CME Group, who rejected the idea entirely.
“When you consider meme coins in general, there is no underlying function. I wouldn’t see us launching something like that.”
The exchange underscored the awkward intersection of regulation, politics, and the growing appetite for meme-fueled investments. While the panel appreciated the humor and acknowledged the rising interest in such assets, their message was firm: investor safety, real utility, and solid structure still take precedence over internet hype.
Even with all the buzz around Trump or Melania-themed ETFs, leading industry voices assembled, it is clear—they’re not betting on these becoming serious or sustainable investment products anytime soon.
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