A cryptocurrency named after a right-wing pejorative against President Joe Biden that is evidently controlled — at least for now — by Trump allies Steve Bannon and Boris Epshteyn has plummeted in value by 95 percent and doesn’t appear to have fulfilled talk of donating some of what the operation recently made to the Wounded Warrior Project, a veterans’ charity. That organization said they’d received no donations since Bannon and Epshteyn took control of $FJB.
That’s all outlined in a new report from ABC, which also notes that the actual involvement Bannon and Epshteyn have been maintaining in administering the cryptocurrency’s operation has sometimes been entirely unclear, with months and months going by without Bannon evidently promoting the coin on his widely heard podcast, despite what ABC identified as pleas from individuals financially backing the coin. “After that, it appears that Bannon and Epshteyn went silent about $FJB for more than five months, ignoring pleas from supporters and coin holders asking them to publicly endorse the project and to address various questions being raised about the coin,” ABC said, recapping what happened after Bannon finally stopped by an update call about the cryptocurrency in the middle of September 2022. Talk of the currency supposedly expanding into Europe, whatever that means, and supporting banking services doesn’t appear it’s panned out.
Some of the money from an account associated with the funds ostensibly designated for charity donations went missing, according to information originating close to the whole effort — which, while it’s unclear what actually happened, brings to mind the situation with a crowdfunding effort in which Bannon was involved that was meant to support constructing a wall at the southern border.
Money from that effort was allegedly used for personal expenses from Bannon and at least three others involved in that crowdfunding initiative, all of whom have been charged — although Bannon’s case is now in New York after Trump gave him a presidential pardon, which covered federal charges. Transactions associated with cryptocurrency have data associated with them available publicly, but there’s also the possibility of shell accounts obscuring the money’s movements. Someone involved in helping run the coin clarified a theft wasn’t suspected and also said Epshteyn was pursuing what they called a recovery of the money, although they didn’t provide many more details.
Some of those updates came just in December 2022, so a lot of these details remain rapidly developing. Talk previously circulated earlier this month of Steve and Boris abandoning the cryptocurrency, although both are evidently staying onboard, and a post Sarah — the administrator who provided details about the ostensibly missing funds — made about their supposed departure was removed. Notably, though, the issues continue, like how some of the money in an account collecting fees from users meant to support charity donations eventually went towards payments in support of other cryptocurrencies, according to an expert in the space who provided information to ABC News.
