Trump launches meme coin ahead of White House return

Trump’s new crypto project quickly drew criticism, even among some die-hard crypto fans. (Image: Bloomberg)
Trump’s new crypto project quickly drew criticism, even among some die-hard crypto fans. (Image: Bloomberg)

Summary

Surging token had a market cap above $6 billion as of Saturday evening.

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. and Eric Trump known as World Liberty Financial.

Trump’s new crypto project quickly drew criticism, even among some die-hard crypto fans. A major point of controversy: 80% of the token’s supply is owned by Fight Fight Fight and CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, according to the website associated with the token.

Some said the token creates significant conflicts of interest for the incoming president. Foreign governments or businesses seeking to influence Washington could be inclined to buy the token to curry favor with Trump, they said.

Spokespeople for Trump didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

GetTrumpMemes.com, the website associated with the token, said it isn’t political and has nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency.

Some people in the industry saw the move as an opportunity to bring more users into the crypto world. Exchanges including Kraken and Crypto.com were swift to list the meme coin.

The token “is currently the hottest digital meme on earth," said Trump’s son Eric Trump in a post on the social-media platform X.

Write to Vicky Ge Huang at vicky.huang@wsj.com

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