How crypto investors used a towering Trump effigy to turn digital hype into real-world power and profit
It’s known as “Don Colossus.”
At 15 feet tall, the statue of President Trump, mounted on its 7,000-pound pedestal, is about the height of a two-story building — a giant effigy cast in bronze and finished with a thick layer of gold leaf.
For more than a year, the golden statue has been at the center of one of the stranger moneymaking ventures of the Trump era. A group of cryptocurrency investors paid $300,000 to have a sculptor create it as a tribute to Mr. Trump, an outspoken crypto proponent.
Then they used it to promote a memecoin called $PATRIOT.
Now, improbably, the project appears close to fruition. A pedestal made of concrete and stainless steel was installed last month on the grounds of Mr. Trump’s golf complex in Doral, Fla. Pastor Mark Burns, one of the organizers of the effort and a friend of Mr. Trump’s, told his collaborators that the president planned to attend the statue’s unveiling there, according to messages reviewed by The New York Times.
“It LOOKS FANTASTIC,” Mr. Trump wrote to Mr. Burns in December.
Nearly everyone in the crypto world has tried to profit from the Trump presidency, striking business deals with his family or seeking regulatory relief from his administration. But few have attempted it as boldly as the backers of $PATRIOT.
A memecoin is a type of cryptocurrency with hardly any function beyond speculation. It’s usually based on a viral joke or celebrity mascot, and worth only as many as online fans are willing to pay. The crucial ingredient is internet hype, enough to convince potential buyers that the price will keep going up.
The construction of a giant statue was an expensive way to gin up social media excitement. But it was a potentially profitable plan. The investors who financed the statue were given stashes of the coins, which can sometimes skyrocket in value, according to one of the project organizers. For months, the backers of “Don Colossus” posted work-in-progress images on X and forged alliances in the MAGA world, with the aim of securing a marketing coup — a spot for the statue on an official Trump property.
