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President-elect Donald Trump launched a cryptocurrency called $TRUMP on Friday night, taking the crypto world by storm and making some investors big money overnight.
The token’s price surged to more than $33 at one point on Saturday afternoon, with a market capitalization surpassing $6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. As of this writing, $TRUMP is trading for about $25, a nearly 293 percent price increase since its launch.
About $TRUMP coin
The $TRUMP crypto was built and operates on the Solana network and has a supply cap of 1 billion tokens, according to the official website. Nearly 80 percent of its supply is held by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight LLC, subject to a three-year unlocking schedule. Solana’s price also surged 18 percent on Saturday afternoon.
The launch of the coin comes just ahead of the incoming president’s inauguration on Monday and follows a broader rise in crypto prices throughout 2024 and early 2025. Crypto investors have largely had a good year, benefitting from catalysts like the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and Trump’s general support of crypto.
After voicing skepticism about crypto during his last term as president, Trump changed his tune and began to voice support for the crypto industry heading into the final leg of his presidential campaign. While on the campaign trail, Trump accepted donations in Bitcoin and advocated for establishing a national Bitcoin stockpile.
Many in the industry credit Trump’s support for pushing the price of Bitcoin higher in recent months. As of Saturday afternoon, it sits near $104,000.
At the inaugural Crypto Ball in Washington, D.C., which also took place on Friday night, David Sacks, Trump’s newly appointed crypto and artificial intelligence czar, said, “The reign of terror against crypto is over, and the beginning of innovation in America for crypto has just begun.”
The rise of meme coins
A meme coin is a type of cryptocurrency that draws its inspiration from internet memes, characters or trends. In this case, Donald Trump’s re-election and the subsequent hype that followed in the crypto community.
Meme coins are usually created with a sense of humor or wit, often associated more with jokes than any real-world application. The main factors driving the price of the coins are usually not based on hard assets or even underlying cash flow, meaning the price is only driven by what others are willing to pay for it — unlike stocks and bonds.
A disclaimer on the $TRUMP coin’s website states, “Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol ‘$TRUMP’ and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”
This statement, however, is in line with the growing popularity and a changing sentiment surrounding meme coins throughout 2024 and into early 2025. Meme coins have been around since the dawn of crypto itself, but their popularity and relatable nature has only continued to be fueled by internet culture and, now, shared belief systems.
Bottom line
The rise of Trump’s crypto underscores his newfound support for the industry while also representing the high-risk, high-reward nature of investing in crypto. The potential of making millions coexists with the reality of sometimes losing it all. If you want to get in on the action, take time to consider how crypto fits into your long-term investing strategy and goals, rather than making crypto your only strategy.
Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past investment product performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation.
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