From Wall Street to Blockchain: The Rise of Blatant Front-running

By Liam Huang

Translated and Edited by Cheryl L.

Trump’s Tariff Drama and Crypto Manipulations Highlight the Dangerous Fusion of Politics and Finance

Whether in traditional Wall Street financial markets or cryptocurrency trading, front-running has long been a part of the financial world. However, what was once concealed is now shockingly open.

In early 2025, Donald Trump issued his own meme coin and kept influencing cryptocurrency price fluctuations under the banner of a "crypto strategic reserve." Now, through his erratic tariff policies, Trump has taken the fusion of power and capital to new heights, turning global markets into a stage for blatant front-running.

The White House Casino: Trump's Tariff Drama

During trading hours, Trump announced via social media: "These Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately."

This statement triggered a stunning market reversal. The Dow surged over 2,900 points, the S&P 500 climbed 9.52%, and the Nasdaq soared 12.16%. The "Big Seven" tech giants saw their total market capitalization increase by $1.85 trillion in just a few hours, marking one of the largest single-day gains in history.

Notably, before announcing the tariff policy changes, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Now is a great time to buy," urging calm and predicting that "everything will work out just fine."

At the time, these remarks seemed like an attempt to encourage the market. However, data from Unusual Whales revealed that, before Trump’s remarks, traders had already opened significant call option positions in $QQQ, $TQQQ, and $SPY. Notably, someone purchased same-day expiry $SPY 509 call options just before the tariff suspension announcement, which skyrocketed by 2,100% within an hour.

All of these trades were new positions opened on the day of the announcement, a highly unusual occurrence given the market's implied volatility rank (IVR) of 82 and extremely high implied volatility (IV). Following these initial trades, more investors piled into bullish options, betting on a market reversal. This chain of events points to a troubling conclusion: someone knew about the major policy shift in advance.

Users voiced frustration on X:

"Trump is using the presidency to make millions for his family and friends."

"The market is a casino for the connected, and we’re just the suckers at the table."

Ironically, days earlier, CNBC reported Trump’s tariff suspension plans, which the White House dismissed as "fake news." Yet, this "rumor" now appears to have been a prophecy.

Trump’s Cryptocurrency Manipulation

In 2025, Trump has repeatedly stirred the financial markets, with two notable incidents targeting the cryptocurrency sector.

On March 2, Trump announced plans for a "U.S. Crypto Reserve," causing tokens like XRP, SOL, and ADA to surge. Later, he clarified on social media that BTC and ETH would be central to the reserve, stating, "I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum," which led to ETH’s immediate price increase.

Eric Trump, his second son, praised the timing of the announcement, claiming it gave retail investors an edge over traditional Wall Street. However, the crypto community largely criticized the move, suspecting front-running by the Trump family.

In January, during the launch of the $TRUMP meme coin, allegations of front-running surfaced. Blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps revealed that a wallet funded 4 hours before the token launch and spent $1 million to purchase 5.9 million $TRUMP tokens within the first minute. These tokens were quickly redistributed and sold for tens of millions in profits.

This is just one example of front-running. Even only calculated according to public data, the Trump family has cashed out over $100 million through meme coins. In the largely unregulated crypto market, Trump’s actions have been even more audacious.

Trump has long faced allegations of market manipulation. In 2019, Vanity Fair reported that Trump’s seemingly erratic statements on U.S.-China tariffs concealed significant front-running. On June 28, during the final 30 minutes of trading, a substantial long position was taken on S&P 500 futures. Shortly after, Trump announced the resumption of U.S.-China trade negotiations, with the trade yielding $1.8 billion in profits within a week.

Trump is not the only figure accused of leveraging power for financial gain. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, have repeatedly demonstrated impeccable investment timing:

• 2021: Before Biden announced subsidies for electric vehicles, Paul purchased millions in Tesla stock. He also acquired Microsoft shares ahead of a major $22 billion defense contract. During antitrust investigations into big tech companies, Paul went long on Google, which ultimately emerged unscathed and saw its stock price surge.

• 2022: Prior to Congress passing a $52 billion semiconductor subsidy bill, Paul invested millions in Nvidia stock.

According to OpenSecrets, Pelosi achieved an impressive 56.15% return on investments in 2021. By 2024, their portfolio delivered a 70.9% return, outperforming the S&P 500 index as well as investment legends like Warren Buffett, David Shaw, and Jim Simons.

The Arrogance of Power: How the Elite Exploit Financial Markets

Front-running angers us because it symbolizes how the privileged exploit ordinary investors who play by the rules.

Retail investors dedicate themselves to studying markets and taking risks, fundamentally relying on the expectation of a fair system. Yet when politicians manipulate markets through policy announcements, enabling their allies to profit, it undermines the very foundation of market integrity.

Unlike traditional front-running, which operates in secrecy, today’s power controllers, like Trump, openly create and flaunt insider opportunities with impunity.

This may be the issue at the intersection of modern politics and financial markets—where power controls markets, the elite amass wealth, and the majority are left as pawns in a rigged system.