Trump Launches Meme Coin, Makes a Fortune on Paper

Donald Trump surprised the world of crypto this weekend by launching his own cryptocurrency token, a development that has made him richer on paper by tens of billions of dollars while raising ethical questions just ahead of his inauguration, reports Politico.

• The launch: The president-elect launched $Trump on Truth Social Friday night. "My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE!" he wrote. "It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!" The coin's image plays off a defiant Trump surviving July's assassination attempt at a campaign rally and includes the words "Fight, fight, fight." The token is "the only official Trump meme," says its website.
• Worth: Meme coins refer to the scores of tokens created based on internet memes, often in jokey fashion. Technically, they have "no intrinsic value," per the BBC, but some take off. The Trump coin began selling at $7 and was at about $70 Sunday morning, per CoinGecko. Its "fully diluted valuation" was nearly $69 billion, and 80% of the supply is held by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital, reports Axios.

• Ethics: Watchdogs criticized the launch as "blatant effort" by Trump to profit from the office he is about to assume, reports the New York Times. "It is literally cashing in on the presidency—creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president's family in connection with his office," says Adav Noti of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit ethics group. "It is beyond unprecedented." The move also brings Trump and his family into the business of selling crypto, which is regulated by the SEC. The president-elect has promised to name a crypto-friendly agency chairman.
• Disclaimers: The token's website maintains that it's "not intended to be, or to be the subject, of an investment opportunity," and that it "is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency." Currently, 200 million tokens are available, and circulation is scheduled to reach 1 billion in three years. The BBC explains that meme coins "are notorious for speculators using hype to pump up the value before selling at the top of the market, leaving latecomers to count their losses as the price crashes."
• Warnings: Even some big names in crypto were leery. "Trump owning 80% and timing launch hours before inauguration is predatory and many will likely get hurt by it," tweeted venture capitalist and former Coinbase exec Nick Tomaino. However, he added it was a "net positive" for the crypto industry because of the "vibe shift" it reflects. The latter view is countered by Trump-supporter-turned-critic Anthony Scaramucci, himself a big pro-crypto voice. "Don't delude yourself. It's Idi Amin level corruption," he tweeted, referring to the former Ugandan dictator. It's "bad for the industry."
• Unapologetic: "I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto," son Eric Trump tells the Times. "$Trump is currently the hottest digital meme on earth," he added. "This is just the beginning."

(These heady days for the crypto industry may precede a massive crash.)