Prof. Richard Painter Interviewed by CNN About Trump Media Expanding to Finance

Professor Richard Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law, was interviewed by CNN about the Trump Media & Technology Group announcing that it plans to expand into financial services and potentially buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The move is likely to raise further conflict of interest concerns because Donald Trump is presiding over how the federal government regulates these industries. Prof. Painter said Trump’s transfer of his shares to the trust does nothing to ease conflicts of interest. He said, “The president of the United States is getting further and further into the crypto business — while he is invoking executive orders on crypto.” Beyond the conflict of interest concerns, Prof. Painter expressed worry that Trump’s investments could further inflate asset prices in crypto markets to the point that they pose a systemic risk to the broader economy. “We have a president who has asserted so much executive power across the board who is himself investing in assets. This is a situation that could be quite dangerous for our economy.”