MW Trump launches surprise meme coin just before inauguration, and its price soars

By Clive McKeef

The move is the latest in a list of crypto-related businesses and products linked to Trump

President-elect Donald Trump launched his own meme coin early Saturday, catching the crypto market by surprise ahead of his inauguration on Monday, and the coin's market capitalization immediately soared.

The coin's value surged within hours, and by Sunday night its price was more than $43, according to CoinMarketCap.

The coin was launched with announcements on both Trump's X and Truth Social accounts. The Truth Social platform is owned by Trump Media and Technology Group $(DJT)$.

On Sunday, Trump's wife, Melania Trump, launched her own meme coin, $MELANIA.

The $TRUMP coin features the slogan "Fight, fight, fight!," and claims to represent "everything we stand for: WINNING!" The coin draws inspiration from Trump's election campaign rally slogan, reportedly shouted after he survived an assassination attempt in July 2024.

Some traders on social-media platforms expressed doubt about the validity of the posts, suggesting Trump's accounts were hacked and being used to sell a fraudulent token that would soon get withdrawn, but the posts remained on the platforms and there has been no statement from Trump indicating there is a problem, according to CoinDesk.

Built on the Solana network, the $TRUMP token has a total supply capped at 1 billion coins, with 200 million available initially, according to the official website. However, 80% of the supply is held by Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital, and a CIC co-owned entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC, which are subject to a three-year unlocking schedule, meaning they cannot sell all of their holdings at once.

CIC Digital LLC has previously overseen the sale of Trump-branded NFTs, sneakers and other merchandise. CIC Digital reportedly generated over $7 million in licensing revenue last year, leveraging Trump's name across various products.

The move is the latest in a long list of crypto-related businesses and products linked to Trump after he previously issued multiple NFTs and the decentralized finance platform World Liberty Financial.

A disclaimer on the meme coin's website stated that the Trump tokens were intended to function as an "expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol $TRUMP" and are not "intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type."

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-Clive McKeef

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January 19, 2025 22:39 ET (03:39 GMT)

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