A few days before his inauguration, Donald Trump surprised the world of cryptocurrencies. The new president launched his own cryptocurrency, simply named $TRUMP. To issue the digital currency, the Republican used the Solana blockchain. In just a few clicks, you can launch your own crypto on the network.
Donald Trump's crypto surprise
At first, many big names in crypto were convinced that it was a hack. The most common theory was that a cybercriminal had managed to take control of Donald Trump's X account to share a scam. This is a flagship tactic of scammers. They use the popularity of an account to steal cryptocurrencies from the most gullible investors.
To everyone's surprise, it was not a hack. Donald Trump quickly confirmed the news on Truth Social, the social network he launched following his ouster from Facebook and Twitter in 2021. CIC Digital LLC, one of the companies Trump has used for his NFT collections, also confirmed the authenticity of the move.
$TRUMP, another memecoin
The $TRUMP token is considered a memecoin. It is a cryptocurrency that has no real practical use. Its sole purpose is to represent something or someone, in this case Donald Trump. In general, a memecoin is designed to capitalize on the popular craze around a personality, a movement or a viral phenomenon online.
As the Trump family explains on the official website of the project, the currency "celebrates a leader who never backs down, no matter the situation". A few hours after its arrival on Solana, the token was found on a large part of the cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance, Crypto.com or Bitpanda. Many individuals were able to invest, hoping to quickly make a profit.
More than 80% of the $TRUMP tokens in circulation on the market are currently held by Fight Fight Fight LLC, the company behind the initiative. Headed by the Trump clan, the firm has put online 200 million tokens on the market. It plans to issue an additional 800 million units within three years. A billion tokens must therefore be created.
By holding the majority of the tokens, the company is theoretically able to manipulate the price of the cryptocurrency. It would be enough to sell a large quantity of tokens to significantly lower the price of $TRUMP. Fight Fight Fight LLC is affiliated with the Trump Organization, which defends all the interests of the Trump family.
The monstrous success of $TRUMP
Donald Trump's cryptocurrency quickly met with colossal success among investors. In the space of a few hours, the valuation of the crypto reached more than $62 billion. The price climbed to around $75, up several tens of thousands of%. With this success, the Trump token temporarily rose to the top 15 most valuable cryptocurrencies on the market. This is a historic rise, rarely seen in the world of cryptocurrencies, which is accustomed to roller coasters.
The success of the Trump token has given a boost to SOL, the crypto of the Solana blockchain. Electrified by Donald Trump's crypto, the SOL price jumped by more than 10%, passing the $290 mark. The Trump clan probably turned to the Solana blockchain for its ability to process many transactions simultaneously.
For the moment, the price of the Trump token is holding steady at around $55. If "the token holds steady, Trump's fortune would amount to €59 billion", the founder of Finary calculated. And, "if it exceeds 270€/token, Trump will surpass Musk in terms of fortune."
A "worrying" conflict of interest
Mirror-like his decentralized finance platform, World Financial Liberty, Donald Trump's memecoin obviously presents serious risks of conflict of interest. By decreeing measures favorable to crypto players, Trump could generate profits, whether through his token or the platform managed by his sons. In short, Donald Trump could use his power to enrich his family to the detriment of investors and American citizens.
For Norman Eisen, former ethics adviser to the White House under the Obama administration, it is also "the most worrying conflict of interest in the modern history of the presidency", reports the Washington Post:
Melania Trump gets involved
At the end of the weekend, the Trump clan continued its momentum by issuing a second cryptocurrency, the $MELANIA in reference to Melania Trump, the president's wife. On her X account, the first lady encouraged investors to buy the currency without delay. In the past, the billionaire's wife had already distinguished herself on the digital asset market by marketing several NFT collections.
The arrival of $MELANIA has significantly affected the price of the Trump token. A large portion of the assets injected into the $TRUMP cryptocurrency were allocated to Melania Trump's currency. This is why the price of $TRUMP suddenly plunged at the end of the weekend, leaving investors who arrived after the rise in the lurch. This crazy weekend "foreshadows a completely crazy mandate, placed under the sign of crypto (and greed)", believes Mounir Laggoune.
For the record, Donald Trump has established himself as one of the leading figures in the world of cryptocurrencies since last summer. The Republican has indeed started to defend Bitcoin tooth and nail, making a 180-degree turn on his previous statements. To seduce the crypto community, he promised to relax the legislation around digital assets and to encourage bitcoin mining in the United States. Trump's promises, combined with his victory in the presidential election, boosted the price of Bitcoin. The crypto climbed past $100,000, before rising to $109,000 over the weekend.
Unfortunately, the Trump clan's two memecoins risk tarnishing the new president's credibility when it comes to cryptocurrencies... For Donald Trump and his teams, is crypto just a bad joke?
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