Trump launches meme coin ahead of White House return
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President-elect Donald Trump promised a crypto-friendly administration. Days before taking office a second time, he began selling a new cryptocurrency.
Named $TRUMP, the project is a so-called meme coin, a type of crypto whose value is based largely on the popularity of internet memes. The token, which is available on the Solana blockchain, quickly soared in value and held a market value of more than $6 billion as of Saturday evening, according to CoinMarketCap. “It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community.
GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW," Trump wrote on his social-media platform, Truth Social. The post, which went live at 9 p.m. Friday, caught the crypto industry off guard.
Even as the coin’s value soared, some worried about its heavy insider ownership and potential for conflicts of interest. Hundreds of crypto executives and political heavyweights had gathered in the nation’s capital that night to celebrate what they expect to be a golden age for digital assets under the Trump administration. Many didn’t learn about Trump’s meme coin until Saturday morning, according to executives who attended the event, dubbed the Crypto Ball.
The token isn’t Trump’s first foray into crypto. Trump has been courting the money and votes of crypto investors over the past year, making big promises to the industry and pledging to draft friendly legislation that would treat digital assets differently from stocks and bonds. Last year the incoming president helped launch a so-called decentralized finance project with his sons Donald Trump Jr.
Read more on livemint.com
