The United States wouldn't be the first country to eliminate the coin, Turco said. Canada, for example, decided to phase out its penny in 2012. In the U.S., the Department of Defense stopped using pennies at its overseas bases in 1980 because it became too expensive to ship them.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It seems like a triumph for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought mainstream acceptance: Top investors in one of President Donald Trump ’s crypto projects invited to dine with him at his luxury golf club in Northern Virginia on the heels of the Senate advancing key pro-crypto legislation and while bitcoin prices soar.

Most of the crypto investors who bought Trump’s meme coin for a chance at dinner with the president remain anonymous. Some are publicly celebrating their invitation.

Friday is National Lucky Penny Day, but the future for the penny is not looking so lucky.The U.S. Treasury confirmed Thursday it ordered its last round of pennies; after that runs out, they will no longer be in production,