Is the coin actual?
That was the query plaguing crypto merchants from U.S. to Asia alike as an “official” memecoin linked to Republican Donald Trump was issued in early Asian hours Saturday from his verified X and Reality Social accounts.
Costs ran from few cents to $14 in lower than six hours amid widespread confusion on whether or not the token was really backed by Trump or was a potential hack of Trump’s account with a faux token issued by the attacker to fleece unsuspecting consumers.
🚨JUST IN: A dealer is up $29.8M on $TRUMP, Donald Trump’s official memecoin on Solana. He spent $1.09M to purchase 5,971,750 TRUMP cash, now price $30.8M in beneath 2 hours—a 2,634% acquire. The dealer has not bought any cash but. pic.twitter.com/HS56HoA85X
— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) January 18, 2025
CoinDesk couldn’t independently verify if the token was legit or not as of early European hours Saturday.
The token — which is seen with scepticism amongst some merchants — has attracted $3 billion in buying and selling volumes hours after going stay and instructions a $2 billion market capitalization at present costs. It has netted early consumers over $70 million in paper positive aspects, and smaller merchants as a lot as $1 million, onchain knowledge reveals.
The obvious transfer comes days earlier than Trump takes workplace on Jan.20, and is the primary time a sitting president will give their liking to a memecoin. It’s the most recent in an extended checklist of crypto-related companies and merchandise linked to Trump — with the Republican having beforehand issued a number of NFTs and the comparatively new decentralized finance platform World Liberty Monetary.
“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!,” an X put up from the @actualDonaldTrump account reads. “Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to — Have Fun!”
The X put up went up on 2:44 UTC Saturday and has stayed up till after 8:15 UTC. It was initially perceived to be
The token was first posted on Trump’s Reality Social, the place it ran from a totally diluted valuation of $200 million to over $1.3 billion in simply over an hour. It gained traction and curiosity from crypto merchants after the X put up.
A disclaimer on the meme’s web site said that the Trump meme token have been supposed to operate as an “expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol $TRUMP” and aren’t “intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”
The reasoning is in step with how memecoin markets have formed up since late 2024, shifting away from mere tokens associated to photos (akin to dogecoin) to cult tokens the place holders consider in a shared imaginative and prescient or concept that the model implies (akin to SPX6900 flipping the U.S. inventory market, or MOG representing “tokenized winning.”)
In the meantime, some previously-issued memecoins themed after Trump took a success early Saturday, dropping as a lot as 50% as their worth proposition fell.