Trump’s Crypto Monopoly: New Game Stirs Ethics Debate Amid Policy Shifts
Donald Trump is plunging into the realm of board games again—this time, with a crypto flavor. The ex-president, who had a penchant for Monopoly and a 2006 TV show based on it that tanked, is now debuting a blockchain-based real estate game that echoes the classic property-buying title, sources close to the initiative say.
The reportedly Monopoly Go!-style game permits players to construct virtual cities and accumulate virtual money. The specifics are shrouded in mystery, but sources frame it as Trump's most recent foray into crypto projects, in addition to his NFT collections, memecoins, and sons Eric and Don Jr.'s Bitcoin mining efforts. Long-time supporter Bill Zanker, who assisted Trump in launching NFTs and a memecoin, is leading the effort.
Zanker's representative denied similarity to Monopoly Go! but asserted a late-April release date, calling the Monopoly connection "hearsay." Hasbro, creator of Monopoly, made it clear it hasn't licensed its IP to Trump-related companies. Previously, Zanker tried to revive Trump's 1989 board game Trump: The Game but discovered Hasbro no longer owned its rights.
The project is the latest addition to Trump's expanding crypto holdings, which already comprise trademark applications for digital items and a DeFi project. Critics, on the other hand, point to conflicts of interest as Trump promotes pro-crypto policies when his family stands to gain financially from the industry. Eric Trump had defended their presence: "Our family believes in crypto—it's something we speak about with heart and soul."
Zanker's background with Trump goes back to 2001, when the pair co-wrote a success-themed book following their work on a Learning Annex seminar. Their collaboration was put on hold during Trump's 2016 campaign but resumed in 2022 with NFTs of Trump as a superhero and astronaut. Zanker is also associated with the FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT memecoin, according to corporate filings.
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As blockchain gaming takes off, Trump's endeavor rides a trend of combining play-to-earn and NFTs. With Zanker refraining from talking to the media and ethical controversy surrounding, though, the roll-out of the game promises equal amounts of melodrama and not-so-strategy.
