A progressive watchdog group is calling for an investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s promotion of a meme coin violated federal law. In a complaint filed on Wednesday, Public Citizen asked the Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics to look into Trump’s repost on X in January of a cryptocurrency coin that

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, has called for a federal investigation into whether U.S. President Donald Trump had violated laws around gift solicitation by promoting a meme coin.

It includes an image of him raising his fist in the air and the words "fight, fight, fight" — a reference to his reaction after an assassination attempt last July. The token is marketed as "a piece of history," with Trump described as "the crypto president."

Donald Trump’s meme coin, TRUMP, has lost 75% of its value despite the former president’s enthusiastic promotion. According to CoinDesk,

Now that there's both Official Trump (with the ticker TRUMP) and Official Melania Meme (with the ticker MELANIA) meme coins, both of which were launched recently on the Solana blockchain, people might be wondering which of the pair is the better bet.

Trump’s meme coin, $TRUMP, and Melania Trump’s coin, $MELANIA, plunged as the news agitated markets worldwide, according to Axios. $TRUMP — unveiled days before his inauguration — saw its value drop by 18% just over the last day. It's now down to $17.50 per token, compared to a peak of $72.62 the day before his swearing-in.

The US nonprofit watchdog is recommending a termination of TRUMP token sales and a return of funds to investors.