Key Takeaways
- US President Donald Trump endorsed his $Trump meme coin on Truth Social and called it “so cool” and “The Greatest of all.”
- The price of the meme coin surged briefly following the endorsement.
- The $Trump meme coin has drawn criticism from some industry players, even others who acknowledge Trump’s positive sentiment on crypto.
US President Donald Trump has once again sparked controversy after promoting his $Trump meme coin on Truth Social. The post led to a surge in value, but social media users criticized him for potentially using his position to benefit personally.
According to a social media post by the President, Trump stated, “I LOVE $TRUMP—SO COOL!!! The Greatest of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” which coincided with a price surge that saw the meme coin briefly reach $12.25 before it experienced brief volatility.
Market No Longer Excitable
The presidential endorsement of the $Trump meme coin has sparked a lot of reaction from a section of social media users who have slammed him for promoting the cryptocurrency that benefits him directly. The $Trump is hosted on the Solana platform and had an initial offering of one billion coins. Trump and his associates own at least 800 million of these coins, while the remaining 200 million were made available through an Initial public offering on January 17, 2025.
According to data from CoinGecko, the $Trump meme coin surged 7.7% on the day of the endorsement, but the $12.25 price remains a pale shadow of the token’s all-time high of $73.4 when it was launched last January. According to Luis Buenaventura, head of crypto at GCash, the latest price action facing the coin was “a sign that the market is no longer excitable about the Trump token,” This is still the case despite investors being aware “of its potential for small profits in short timescales.”
Immediately following the January launch of the $Trump meme coin, the First Family went on to launch another coin, the $Melania, supported directly by the First Lady. Some politicians, led by California’s Rep. Sam Liccardo, have since proposed a meme coin act aiming to stop Trump and any other senior politician from launching crypto projects in the future.
Setting a Dangerous Precedent
As the criticism continues, others have called the weekend endorsement for the $Trump meme coin foolish. Galaxy CEO Michael Novogratz said Trump’s overall sentiment on the crypto sector was positive; he thinks launching the meme coin is “a little foolish.” Novogratz said:
“Sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad.”
It is unprecedented for a sitting US President to launch and directly endorse a cryptocurrency that benefits his business interests, hence the heavy criticism and scrutiny from industry observers and ethics watchdogs concerned about the potential for conflict of interest. Commenting on the development, Andrew Rossow, AR Media’s digital media attorney and CEO, opined that such activities could “unfortunately set a dangerous precedent for leveraging public office for personal financial gain.”
Rossow cited three high-risk constitutional concerns in the Emoluments Clauses (Article 1, Sec. 9), prohibiting sitting US presidents from receiving financial benefits “from domestic entities or foreign governments without congressional approval.” Rossow is also concerned about the $Trump meme coin ownership structure that allows “foreign actors to purchase tokens anonymously, potentially violating these clauses by enabling indirect financial gains or undue foreign influence” over US policy.
Conclusion
While the $Trump meme coin may not reach the all-time high achieved on January 19, 2025, any time soon, the President’s endorsement stirred the market, highlighting the place of celebrity endorsement in the meme coin segment. However, there is ongoing concern over the token’s future, considering that Trump and his associates hold 80% of the token supply. Analysts predict the $Trump coin could surge again if included in the Strategic Crypto Reserve, but no one knows if that could ever happen.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is $Trump?
$TRUMP is a meme coin built on the Solana blockchain linked to US President Donald Trump. Launched on January 17, 200 million $TRUMP tokens were made available to users on the launch day. The total supply will increase to 1 billion tokens over three years.
Does the $Trump coin have a specific utility?
The token’s utility lies in its link to President Trump’s name as an influential figure, thereby creating powerful cultural and emotional connections for his avid supporters. Beyond speculation, the token currently has no intrinsic use case – no governance rights, utility beyond trading, or DeFi functionality.
Is $Trump A Good Investment?
At the moment, it is still too early to describe $Trump as a good investment. This is because it is a meme coin with no utility value other than riding on the waves of Donald Trump’s popularity.
