{"id":21256,"date":"2026-02-03T23:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/magas-golden-calf-trump-statue-at-the-heart-of-a-dramatic-crypto-gamble\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T23:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:31:23","slug":"magas-golden-calf-trump-statue-at-the-heart-of-a-dramatic-crypto-gamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/magas-golden-calf-trump-statue-at-the-heart-of-a-dramatic-crypto-gamble\/","title":{"rendered":"MAGA\u2019s \u2018Golden Calf\u2019: Trump statue at the heart of a dramatic crypto gamble"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">A 15-foot-tall statue of former President Donald Trump, cast in bronze and gilded in gold leaf, has a home: a 7,000-pound pedestal at one of Trump\u2019s golf resorts. <\/p>\n<p>But this monument, dubbed \u201cDon Colossus,\u201d is not just a tribute to the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/LegacyPDFS\/press\/PDFs\/Trump-Verdict-Sheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">34-felony-count<\/a> president. According to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/technology\/trump-statue-don-colossus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the New York Times<\/a>, it\u2019s at the heart of a bizarre cryptocurrency venture that\u2019s seen a rollercoaster of financial hopes, legal disputes, and strange alliances \u2014 and it may just be the wildest moneymaking scheme of the Trump era.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_0de94724b92bf994eb5554fe0cb23680\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 15-foot statue of Trump was used to promote the struggling PATRIOT memecoin, which lost over 90% of its value shortly after its launch.<\/li>\n<li>The project faced delays, infighting, and a legal dispute with sculptor Alan Cottrill, who claimed he was owed $75,000 for intellectual property rights, stalling the statue\u2019s public debut.<\/li>\n<li>Despite the coin\u2019s failure, the project continues with plans for an official unveiling at Trump\u2019s Doral golf resort.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>The statue was funded by cryptocurrency investors who paid $300,000 to commission a sculptor to create it as a homage to Trump. It was then used to promote PATRIOT, a memecoin with little function beyond speculation, designed to capitalize on MAGA hype.<\/p>\n<p>The coin went on sale in late 2024, briefly spiking in value as Trump made bold promises about turning the U.S. into the \u201ccrypto capital of the planet.\u201d But as with many memecoin ventures, the excitement didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p>PATRIOT\u2019s price plummeted, losing over 90% of its value within months, marred by delays and infighting among the investors. The statue, initially planned for a grand unveiling, became a symbol of the volatile and often dubious nature of memecoins, which are known for their reliance on viral trends and celebrity endorsements. <\/p>\n<p>However, its sheer size and golden sheen have continued to draw attention, and it has remained the centerpiece of a marketing campaign designed to revive the struggling cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<p>The project\u2019s backers, including crypto developers and right-wing activists, used social media to promote the statue, hoping to gain enough internet buzz to revive the coin\u2019s value. <\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Official Trump \u2018trumps\u2019 Patriot<\/h3>\n<p>While the statue was being built, it encountered multiple setbacks, including a clash with Ohio-based sculptor Alan Cottrill, who claimed he was owed $75,000 for intellectual property rights. The dispute over the use of his design for marketing purposes led to a bitter standoff, with Cottrill threatening to withhold the statue until he was fully compensated. Despite these tensions, the statue\u2019s construction proceeded, and a concrete-and-stainless-steel pedestal was installed at Trump\u2019s golf complex in January 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Though the Trump family publicly <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EricTrump\/status\/2018445443391508818\">distanced itself<\/a> from the coin, Trump promoted the project, including a link shared to Breitbart News, and kept the spotlight on PATRIOT.<\/p>\n<p>His own coin, Official Trump (TRUMP), launched shortly before the PATRIOT unveiling, further complicating the situation and leading to a drop in interest in the competing crypto token. The timing couldn\u2019t have been worse, as the price of PATRIOT tanked just as Trump\u2019s official token took off.<\/p>\n<p>The PATRIOT saga, though financially rocky, continues to capture the public\u2019s imagination. The statue, intended as a marketing stunt for the coin, is now poised for an official unveiling in Doral, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has reportedly expressed interest in attending the event, though no official date has been set. <\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Cottrill is still waiting for full payment for his work, while the investors continue to promote the project online, hoping the statue\u2019s golden finish will spark renewed interest.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setbacks, the statue stands as a symbol of one of the stranger intersections between politics, crypto, and celebrity culture. The backers of PATRIOT have insisted that the project wasn\u2019t about getting rich \u2014 it was about building a \u201cpeople\u2019s crypto token\u201d that would celebrate Trump and his supporters.<\/p>\n<p>As of now, it seems more like a monument to memecoins.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 15-foot-tall statue of former President Donald Trump, cast in bronze and gilded in gold leaf, has a home: a 7,000-pound pedestal at one of Trump\u2019s golf resorts. But this&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21257,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21256\/revisions\/21257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}