Apropos to nothing, United States President-elect Donald Trump’s official social media accounts dropped details of a new “official meme” from the popular leader across platforms. Accompanied by no immediate statement from vocal Trump, or his representatives, the posts were initially dismissed as a hack, but as the hours passed and linked websites led back to Trump’s known businesses, the buzz skyrocketed.The hype around the $TRUMP meme coin pushed its value to $36 per token, for a market capitalisation of $7.18 billion, at the time of writing (January 19, 11.25 am IST), according to data available on Coinmarketcap. According to a report by Fox Business, the virtual token has risen by an impressive more than 1,000 per cent since launch.Also Read | $TRUMP meme coin m-cap crosses $6 billion; Here’s how its compared to othersLate on January 18, Eric Trump posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), officially confirming the development. He wrote: “I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. $Trump is currently the hottest digital meme on earth and I truly believe that World Liberty will revolutionize DeFi/Cefi and will be the future of finance. We are just getting started!” (sic)Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Junior launched World Liberty Financial, a digital asset platform aimed at the decentralised finance (DiFi) segment, in September 2024. DeFi is an arcane crypto sector in which people trade, lend, and borrow digital assets peer-to-peer using automated software, according to a Bloomberg report.Also Read | US President-elect Trump, wife Melania attend fireworks at golf club | WatchPotential windfall of $24 Billion For Donald Trump, Family and CompaniesThus, the gains for Trump’s linked businesses is around $7 billion at present, and rising. At current trends, an AFP report noted that combined with the coins not yet on the market, the token’s worth would be around $24 billion by 2028.According to an AFP report, neither Trump nor the company managing the launch, Fight Fight Fight LLC, offered details about how much he made from the initial batch of meme coins released. However, the coin’s official site said 200 million meme coins were issued, and another 800 million would be issued over the next three years.Bloomberg noted that the website’s fine print disclaimed that the tokens, available via the Solana blockchain network, are not intended to be an “investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type,” but crypto-minded Trump fans immediately started buying.The AFP report pointed out that meme coins have no economic or transactional value and are often seen as a means of speculative trading. It added that most meme coins, such as $TRUMP, are designed to capitalise on the popularity of a certain personality, movement, or viral internet trend.Also Read | TikTok: Trump may give 90-day reprieve on Jan 20, app says farewell—top updatesIs It the Cleanest Money? What Has Trump Divested in Preparation
Dom. Gen 19th, 2025
