Donald Trump, US president again by the time many of you read this, launched his own cryptocurrency – $TRUMP – on the Solana blockchain network on Friday night. By the weekend, it had hit a market cap of nearly $15 billion, although by Sunday, that value dropped when First Lady Melania Trump launched her own meme coin.
The presidential crypto made “quite a splash in the crypto market,” according to Coin Desk, which tracked it becoming “the 21st largest digital asset” in record time – no mean feat when it didn’t exist on Thursday.
There is a 20 percent float, with the remaining 80 percent owned by Trump, Trump family companies, and the coin’s developer. The price started at $0.01, hit highs of over $70, and is now hovering around $53. An unhappy reader opined that Trump would “likely leak the coins over the next few years,” while numerous critics claimed the gambit looks suspiciously like a pump-and-dump scheme.
The current market cap of $TRUMP, at the time of writing (according to crypto data aggregator CoinMarketCap), is $10.2 billion. $MELANIA is $2.01 billion.
The price of Bitcoin also hit an all-time-high as Trump’s inauguration draws closer and crypto market speculation mounts. At the time of publication, BTC was worth $108K, having hit a high of $109K early in the European morning.
Both the Melania and Trump cryptocurrencies were endorsed by the Trump family’s new crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, launched in August last year.
Eric Trump, Trump Organization EVP and the President-elect’s son, said he was “extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. $TRUMP is currently the hottest digital meme on earth and I truly believe that @WorldLibertyFi will revolutionize DeFi/Cefi and will be the future of finance.”
Pre-election Promises
In a speech at a Bitcoin conference back in July last year, his father, then the Republican presidential nominee, vowed that the US would become the “crypto capital of the planet” and reportedly said he would, if elected, create a Bitcoin “strategic reserve” using currency currently held by government, although whether that happens in anyone’s guess.
Dennis Porter, co-founder and chairman of Satoshi Action Fund, a non-profit educational organization, told The Register in November last year: “There’s clear signaling from the Trump camp – which will soon be the Trump administration – that they’re very interested in this policy,” referring to the so-called “strategic Bitcoin reserve.” Porter told us: “Trump endorsed that type of legislation at the Bitcoin conference right after Senator [Cynthia] Lummis introduced her legislation, the Bitcoin Act of 2024.”
Trump last year also promised to “fire” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler, who later announced his upcoming resignation and stepped down today.
Departing chair Gensler, known for his crypto crackdowns, began his work at the federal agency in April 2021, in the immediate aftermath of the GameStop market events. Gensler said of his time there that “the staff and the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring that the markets work for investors and issuers alike. The staff comprises true public servants. It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”
Trump has nominated crypto advocate, CEO of consulting firm Patomak Partners, and former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to take the hot seat. He will help shape ongoing regulatory moves in the industry if and when he is confirmed by the Senate.
According to the $TRUMP crypto-coin website, which bears the unserious moniker of GetTrumpMemes.com, the aim of investment is to “support” Trump. The token features a drawing of the incoming US president fist-pumping the air, saying “Fight, Fight, Fight!” – a slogan Trump picked up after an assassination attempt in July last year.
There are several Trump-branded meme coins around, but $TRUMP is “the only official Trump meme,” says the site, which adds:
Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol “$TRUMP” and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type. GetTrumpMemes.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency. CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC collectively own 80 percent of the Trump Cards, subject to a three-year unlocking schedule.
Other coins have begun piggybacking on $TRUMP’s gains, including a coin branded as $USA, which Eric Trump said on Saturday has “nothing to do with us.”
Trump is expected to be inaugurated today in a ceremony that begins at 1130 Eastern Time (1700 UTC)
