Melania Trump’s Crypto Meme Coin MELANIA Has Lost Almost 90% of Its Value

Meme coins are highly volatile and generally do not have much intrinsic value. The tokens can often depend on something going viral, but that can be short-lived

Crypto enthusiasts are learning the hard way that even the participation of the US First Family in a meme coin does not guarantee its success.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Melania Trump's crypto meme coin, MELANIA, has lost almost 90% of its value in the weeks since Donald Trump's inauguration, while the president's token, TRUMP, has seen its price fall around 75% from its all-time high.

Meme coins are highly volatile and usually do not have much intrinsic value. According to Stephane Ouellette, chief executive officer and co-founder of FRNT Financial Inc., the tokens often rely on something going viral, which can be short-lived.

“The performance of TRUMP and MELANIA reflects this fleetingness,” Ouellette said. “These assets have unclear purposes beyond their momentary novelty and this gives speculators little incentive to hold beyond time horizons measured in mere days.”

The president's foray into meme coins was met with mixed reactions from the crypto industry. Some felt it showed his commitment to making crypto a priority, while others believed it harmed the industry at a time when it is trying to appear more credible.

The president announced his meme coin in a January 17 TruthSocial post. The token briefly reached over $70, but saw declines after Melania Trump launched her own coin two days later. Both tokens were distributed on the Solana blockchain.

The first lady's token went on to achieve a market capitalisation of as much as $2.1 billion. However, after reaching an all-time high of $13.73, the token now trades at around $1.50.

According to Joe McCann, founder and CEO of Asymmetric, this type of pullback in prices is standard for meme coins, but Trump's actions can influence all markets, including crypto.

“Unlike other meme coins, you have the literal president of the United States who is exceptionally good at creating viral controversy on the internet, whether you like it or not, that could have an impact on the price of his token either directly or indirectly,” McCann said.

CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC are the Trump-linked issuers of the president's coin. CIC Digital did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Fight Fight Fight and MKT World LLC, the Melania-linked issuer of the first lady's coin, could not be reached for comment.

According to risk modelling firm Gauntlet, since its launch, the Trump token has likely generated at least $11.5 million in fees for entities linked to the president, but the majority of wallets that bought the token made no more than $13, based on an analysis by Bloomberg.