As US president Donald Trump left the stage at his golf club near Washington, DC, on Thursday night, he pointed to the crowd, brought his index finger to his temple—as if to say: You know what’s coming—then began to dance. To the beat of “Y.M.C.A” by The Village People, Trump shimmied, gyrated, and pumped his arms above his head.

Looking on were more than 200 people who had been invited to the Trump National Golf Club for a private gala dinner. They had won their seats by purchasing large quantities of Trump’s own crypto coin—TRUMP—some holding millions of dollars’ worth.

On the menu for the evening was pan-seared halibut with a citrus reduction, a filet mignon with demi glaze—and, the attendees hoped, a chance to speak to the US president. Four of the guests agreed to tell WIRED about their experience.

By late afternoon, the dinner guests had started to filter through the gates of the golf club. By comparison to Trump’s previous banquets, thronging with DC insiders and members of the Silicon Valley elite, the crypto dinner attracted a mismatched collection of oddballs: independent traders rubbed shoulders with crypto executives, die-hard Trump fans, and even professional sports stars—former NBA player Lamar Odom towered overhead. A handful wore bowties in Bitcoin orange; others sported gold Trump sneakers.

Just after 7 pm, the dinner guests gathered at the window to watch Trump descend in Marine One, his presidential helicopter. A short while later, he appeared from behind a blue velvet curtain to whoops and applause from the crowd. Had they seen the helicopter, Trump asked. “Yeah, super cool!” somebody yelled.

From behind a lectern at one end of the dining room, backdropped by four US flags, Trump delivered a characteristically winding and digressive speech that sources say lasted around 25 minutes. At some point, he got round to crypto.

“We’ve got some of the smartest minds anywhere in the world right here in this room,” said Trump. “You believe in the whole crypto thing. A lot of people are starting to believe in it … This is really something that may be special—who knows, right? Who knows—but it may be special.”

When Trump first promoted his memecoin in January, three days before the inauguration, the limited amount released into circulation rose in value to $14 billion. The remaining 80 percent of the supply is controlled by CIC Digital LLC—a subsidiary of a conglomerate owned by the Trump family—and Fight Fight Fight LLC, formed by longtime Trump ally Bill Zanker. With little more than a social media post, Trump had added billions of dollars to his paper net worth. (The value of the circulating coins has since slumped to roughly $3 billion.)

The team behind the TRUMP coin announced the presidential dinner for the top 220 holders on April 23, promising the top 25 a close-quarters reception with Trump. The attendees would be selected based on who had held the most coins and kept them the longest between the announcement date and May 12, the website explained.

The dinner competition revived objections among critics who feared that the memecoin could be used as a vector for bribery. Theoretically, by making a large investment in TRUMP and driving up the price, critics worried, a politically motivated actor could discreetly curry favor with the president. The dinner, critics argued, compounded that risk by making the unsavory arrangement explicit: a large investment in return for an encounter with Trump.

“What’s happening tonight at Trump’s golf course is, in effect, putting a ‘for sale’ sign on the White House. It’s auctioning off access,” claimed Democrat senator Richard Blumenthal on Thursday morning at a press conference hosted by nonprofit Accountable.US.

After the competition deadline, a few of the dinner attendees identified themselves publicly, including the largest TRUMP holder: crypto magnate Justin Sun. The China-born entrepreneur has become increasingly entangled in the Trump family’s expanding web of crypto ventures; in addition to investing in the memecoin, Sun previously disclosed a combined $75 million investment in a separate crypto coin issued by World Liberty Financial, a company affiliated with the Trump family and promoted by Eric and Donald Trump Jr. In early May, Eric Trump announced a partnership between World Liberty Financial and TRON, a crypto network developed by Sun.

Under the Biden administration, US regulators had charged Sun and several of his companies with market manipulation and offering unregistered securities. In February, after Trump returned to the White House, a district judge granted a joint request to stay the case in order for both sides to negotiate an out-of-court resolution.

The event organizer did not respond immediately to a request for comment. In a statement to WIRED, Anna Kelly, deputy press secretary for the White House, said, “The president is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself. President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public, which is why they overwhelmingly reelected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”

The identities of most of the remaining attendees were concealed behind leaderboard usernames and alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses. But those who spoke to WIRED provided a sense of their motivations for seeking a place.

For some, the dinner represented a chance to network with other deep-pocketed crypto figures, and to hear directly from Trump about his plans to bring an end to the regulatory uncertainty that crimped the industry’s expansion under Biden.

“You don’t get to meet the president easily,” Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at trading firm Kronos Research, told WIRED a few days before the dinner. “To be able to hear his message on crypto directly—I’m definitely looking forward to that.”

Others hoped to run into famous members of Trump’s inner circle—perhaps Elon Musk or David Sacks, the venture capitalist now serving as crypto and AI czar to the White House. “If it’s someone from the PayPal Mafia, I’ll probably tell them that Peter Thiel’s book changed my life,” said 25-year-old TikTok prankster Nicholas Pinto, who purchased around $300,000 in TRUMP to earn his seat at the dinner.

To celebrate winning a place at the dinner, Pinto had spraypainted “Hold $Trump” onto the chassis of his blue Mercedes G-Wagon. But hoping to win credit with the cryptoheads, he rode his Lamborghini Urus to DC instead.

One independent crypto trader, who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity, didn’t really intend to win a place at the dinner at all. They bought into TRUMP with the aim of profiting by a potential uplift in price brought about by the competition, but currently faced with a loss on their trade if they were to sell, instead chose to settle for a lavish dinner.

The dining room chosen for the crypto event looks out across the golf course fairway towards the Potomac River, shrouded on Thursday evening by grey clouds.

As the guests filed in, they were greeted by a blown-up copy of the leaderboard that ranked the TRUMP coin holders throughout the competition. Some signed their respective leaderboard usernames in marker pen.

Others made their way towards circular tables, each seating 10 people, arrayed beneath a set of crystal chandeliers. Waiting on the chairs were gift bags containing Fight Fight Fight-themed hats and posters, and a collectible plastic card (some allege that they didn’t receive merch at their seats.) The four largest coin holders—along with two other attendees selected by raffle, sources say—received a gem-encrusted Trump gold watch.

Between mouthfuls, the attendees discussed trading and investment strategies—and Trump’s speech. “To feel his personal charisma to me was very inspiring,” says Liu. But others complained about the brevity of Trump’s appearance: After his speech, Trump had departed immediately in a golf cart bound for his helicopter. “Trump could have at least given the top people their watches himself,” says Pinto. “He didn’t.”

The food itself had left a bitter taste in the mouth, too. “It was the worst food I’ve ever had at a Trump golf course,” says Pinto, who added he left hungry. “The only good thing was bread and butter.” Another attendee described the meal as “OK, but not top-class.”

During the dessert course, the organizers invited Sun to make a speech of his own as the largest coin holder. He toasted the other attendees—and Trump—and declared a new dawn for the crypto industry in the US. “I appreciate like everything the Trump administration done for our industry [sic],” said Sun.

As the dinner dwindled to a natural close, many of the guests took shuttle buses to an afterparty at a rooftop hotel bar in central Washington put on by one of the other large coin holders, which ran into the early hours of the morning. Others called it a night.

The presiding memory for one attendee remains the “warm welcome” that they received at the start of the evening. As they made their way through the security checkpoint at the front gate, they were greeted by a horde of protesters, brandishing signs reading “Stop Crypto Corruption” and “Don the Con” emblazoned with the orange bitcoin logo. “Shame on you,” the protesters shouted.

Additional reporting from Paige Oamek.