Trump Begins Presidency As A Crypto Billionaire With “Meme” Coins

As of Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump’s new family crypto tokens had a combined market value of $8 billion, nearly doubling his net worth and raising ethical concerns from critics.

“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!” Trump announced in a post on X on Friday, “Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW.”

$TRUMP peaked at a market cap of $14.5 billion on Sunday, while first lady Melania Trump’s meme coin, $MELANIA, peaked at $1.2 billion Monday morning, according to Coin Gecko.

As the 19th biggest Crypto token in the world, Trump’s team raked in an estimated $58 million in fees just 24 hours after $TRUMP’s release, according to Coinbase director Conor Grogan, with Grogan estimating a daily fee intake of $15 million. 

As seen recently with the “Hawk-Tuah” coin, meme coins are infamous for their high volatility and dubious intrinsic value. Influencers often use them to make money off their audience via social media promotion. 

Both coins have tumbled in the past 24 hours, nearly halving the market cap of each respective coin since their peak and causing many to raise ethical concerns about Trump’s association if the coins continue to fall.

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According to Bloomberg, “An 80% share of the Trump token is owned by a Trump Organization affiliate called CIC Digital LLC, and a related entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC.” 

Trump owning 80% of the token gives him significant sway over the market, to say the least. Easing the minds of some is that the coins are “locked,” meaning that Trump cannot sell them for years into the future. 

The coin launch is more evidence of Trump’s sharp turn from his previous crypto skepticism, with Trump promising during his 2024 campaign to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.”

Despite this promise, many in the crypto community are disappointed with Trump’s handling of crypto thus far. Crypto hedge fund partner Rob Hadik called the launches “a blight that we will have to work to put behind us as builders.”

Bitcoin, despite rising nearly 50% since Trump’s election, fell by 5% on Tuesday morning from its inauguration peak of $109,241, per Bloomberg. The market was likely expecting Trump to sign one or even several crypto-focused executive orders on Monday.

Crypto’s absence from Trump’s sweeping array of executive orders did alarm some investors, evidenced by the small sell-off, but many are unconcerned. They even point to $TRUMP as a sign that the president is more committed than ever to crypto’s future.

“It’s premature to draw strong conclusions from the absence of an immediate executive order” given that the Trump administration has a range of priorities, said Richard Galvin, co-founder of hedge fund DACM. “Markets have shown resilience, suggesting investors are taking a similar, longer term view.”

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