Trump Crypto Token Nets $350M Since Launch
The Donald Trump crypto meme token, $TRUMP, has netted investors $350 million since its launch, The Financial Times reports. While it is unclear what portion of this windfall has personally profited the president, it is likely to fuel concerns over conflicts of interest,
The White House and the memcoin’s website, Gettrumpmemes.com, did not respond to requests for comment, although the website states that “CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization” and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a Delaware company, own 80% of the tokens.
Upon release, $TRUMP soared to a high of $75 per token. It has since fallen about 82% to $13. According to FT analysis, the 831 million tokens held in Trump-linked wallets have a notional value of $10.8 billion.
When Melania’s token was launched, it sent the price of Trump’s memecoin plunging. As a result, the organizers spent $1 million propping up the token by buying it at $33.23 each.
“It’s something that is pretty [common] in crypto as a whole: using their own treasury to defend the charts,” says Nicolas Vaiman, chief executive officer of Bubblemaps, a cryptocurrency analytics company.