On Friday 17th January, President-elect Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to launch a meme coin with the launch of the official TRUMP ($TRUMP)
On Friday 17th January, President-elect Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to launch a meme coin with the launch of the official TRUMP ($TRUMP) token.
As of Saturday afternoon, the coin had reached a market capitalization of over $8 billion. This makes it the third-largest meme coin, trailing only Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Over 24 hours later, the coins huge gains are holding steady, with millions of dollars in trading volume pouring in every minute.
Trades worth $1 million or more are being recorded by the hundreds, while major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance have announced $TRUMP listings.
The launch, initially met with skepticism, saw many traders questioning the legitimacy of the announcement. Was Donald Trumps social media account hacked?
Even Elon Musk expressed uncertainty about the authenticity of the post. Yet, as the hours passed without any statement clarifying the situation, it became clear that this was no hack.
Trumps TRUMP token had been officially launched with Erick Trump endorsing the coin on his X account. The market responded in kind.
Trump Token Explosive Rise Creates Millionaires
The $TRUMP tokens price has since surged to an all time high of $67 per coin, contributing to a market capitalization that exceeded $13 billion at the time of writing.
The $TRUMP token shot up in value, turning early buyers into instant winners. Some traders sold their tokens fast to lock in big profits. Data from Lookonchain shows an insane TRUMP token buying spree.
Lookonchain data revealed that these traders were moving their $TRUMP to major exchanges like OKX.
One well-known trader, tagged as ‘legendary,’ made $6.8 million in a single day. This was on top of a $12.5 million profit from BOME the year before.
Another trader turned an investment of $1.1 million into $70 million in just four hours.
The same whale, identified by Lookonchain as “Fpj236…uVJr,” deposited 1.27 million $TRUMP tokens into OKX, securing a $29.6 million profit.
This memecoin launch is only the latest step in Trumps evolving relationship with cryptocurrency.
His company, CIC Digital LLC, reportedly owns 80 percent of the coins supply, with a total of 200 million tokens currently available. The supply is set to grow to 1 billion over the next three years.
Trump has already shown a willingness to embrace crypto, having sold digital trading cards and endorsed crypto during his campaign.
He has also made headlines for his pledge to enact policies benefiting the digital asset industry, including a revamp of how cryptocurrencies are regulated and a plan to have the government stockpile Bitcoin.
Ethical Concerns and Criticism
The timing of the $TRUMP token launch raises questions. With his inauguration just days away, Trumps move to release a new product just before taking office has caught the attention of ethics watchdogs.
Critics argue that launching a business at this stage represents a blatant conflict of interest.
Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called it “absolutely wild.”
He pointed out that traditionally, presidents-elect separate themselves from business ventures to avoid conflicts of interest.
While Trumps supporters celebrate the launch, it has sparked significant controversy.
Some in the crypto industry, including former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci, have voiced concern over the potential damage to the sectors reputation.
Scaramucci criticized the launch on X, writing that it was “bad for the industry” and comparing it to corruption under Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
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