Donald Trump’s newly launched cryptocurrency surged on Monday to nearly $11 billion in market value as billions poured into trading just hours before the president-elect takes the oath of office.
The meteoric rise in the digital currency’s value coincided with Bitcoin hitting a record high — the latest indication that cryptocurrency investors are bullish on the incoming administration’s anticipated deregulation of the industry.
Launched on Friday, Trump’s “meme coin,” also known as $TRUMP, soared from less than $10 on Saturday morning to as high as $74.59 before giving up some of its huge rise on Monday, trading at around $52.
This valuation translated to a market capitalization of approximately $10.7 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, making it the 18th largest cryptocurrency.
The token, issued on the Solana blockhain, features branding that includes an image from Trump’s attempted assassination in July.
Meanwhile, former First Lady Melania Trump launched her own cryptocurrency on Sunday. By early Monday morning, her token was trading at approximately $9.60, with a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, per CoinMarketCap data.
In parallel, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,071.86 during early trading before retreating to around $106,600.
The leading cryptocurrency has climbed more than 10% in value since the start of the month, fueled by investor optimism.
The Trump family has enthusiastically embraced cryptocurrency.
Last year, the president-elect’s two eldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric, launched World Liberty Financial (WLF), a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform which aims to promote crypto-based financial services while reinforcing the US dollar’s role in the digital economy.
Although the Trump family is closely associated with WLF, they do not hold official positions but serve as advisors and have been allocated significant WLFI tokens.
The platform primarily caters to accredited investors, limiting access for most retail investors in order to comply with regulatory requirements.
According to the coin’s website, 80% of the total $TRUMP tokens are controlled by CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, alongside Fight Fight Fight LLC.
The launch of Trump’s meme coin has elicited mixed reactions within the crypto community.
Justin D’Anethan, an independent cryptocurrency analyst based in Hong Kong, noted that while the move might be seen as another Trump spectacle, it raises significant ethical and regulatory concerns.
“The introduction of an official Trump cryptocurrency blurs the lines between governance, profit, and influence,” D’Anethan stated.
“Should public figures, particularly those with immense political power, be allowed to exert such influence over speculative markets? This is a question regulators will likely scrutinize.”
Trump has pledged to be a “crypto president” — further stoking expectations among digital coin enthusiasts that his administration will work to eliminate regulatory barriers and promote mainstream adoption of the virtual assets.
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