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President-elect Donald Trump launched his own cryptocurrency on Friday, sparking a feverish buying that apparently sent its market capitalization soaring to several billion dollars, followed by an announcement on Sunday that Melania Trump had also debuted her own cryptocurrency.
In a message posted on his Truth Social platform and X, Trump unveiled the so-called meme coin, which is designed to capitalize on the popularity of a certain personality, movement or viral internet trend.
“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!” he wrote.
On Sunday, Melania Trump announced her own meme coin, writing on X, “You can buy $MELANIA now.” The website noted that people could purchase the meme coin either with a debit card or cryptocurrency.
Meme coins have no economic or transactional value and are often seen as a means of speculative trading.
“This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds,” the coin’s official site says.
In the hours following the overnight launch, the crypto community posed questions about the legitimacy of the $TRUMP coin, and its actual link to the president-elect, with some fearing a scam.
But the fact that the announcements came on Trump’s official social media channels seemed to reassure the market, as did the fact that Trump has used one of the companies behind the project, CIC Digital LLC, in the past to sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
By mid-morning on Saturday, the market capitalization for $TRUMP stood at nearly $6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
Neither Trump nor the company managing the launch, Fight Fight Fight LLC, offered details about how much he made from the initial batch of meme coins released.
The coin’s official site said 200 million meme coins were issued, with Fight Fight Fight saying an additional 800 million would be added over the next three years.
Some experts cautioned people about investing in the meme coins, noting that such products have, in the past, proved speculative and prone to large swings in valuation, both on the upside and downside.
“This is a revival of the meme coin trend we saw in 2021 and 2022, where many young, inexperienced investors got burned by extreme volatility,” said Nigel Green, CEO of wealth management firm deVere Group, in an email. “If you’re considering getting involved, you need to have a sound, diversified, long-term plan in place first.”
Mark Humphrey / AP
Formerly a cryptocurrency skeptic, the president-elect is now a convert and has become a champion of the concept.
Before this new announcement, Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric started their own crypto venture – World Liberty Financial – and other members of the incoming administration have previously disclosed investments in and backing for cryptocurrencies.
Last summer, Trump spoke at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, where he pledged to make America “the crypto capital of the planet” once back in the White House.
The meme coin is Trump’s latest merchandise push, which recently included a line of perfumes, colognes, watches and “President Donald J. Trump First Edition” silver coins selling for $100 each celebrating his election win. He famously used a photo of him sitting next to first lady Dr. Jill Biden at the re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral to promote the cologne line.
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