US President Donald Trump criticised for launching a meme-coin while saying he "doesn't know much" about the cryptocurrency

The digital coin called TRUMP appeared on his social media accounts ahead of his inauguration on Monday and quickly became one of the most valuable crypto coins.

US President Donald Trump has launched his own meme-coin, despite claiming he "doesn't know much" about the cryptocurrency.

The digital coin, called TRUMP, appeared on his social media accounts ahead of his inauguration on Monday and quickly became one of the most valuable crypto coins.

The value of a single coin shot up to $75 within a day, but has since fallen to $39.

The launch of the meme-coin - a cryptocurrency with no utility other than for fun or speculation - has been widely criticized by industry insiders.

"Trump's comments about not knowing much about the coin back up my opinion that he is making a mockery of the industry. It's a stunt," says Danny Scott, CEO of CoinCorner.

The latest dip in value came after Trump told reporters: "I don't know much about it other than I launched it, other than it was very successful."

When he was told his coin raised several billion dollars for him, he played it down, saying "several billion - that's peanuts for these guys," pointing to the tech billionaires who were assembled for a press conference about AI.

Meme-coins are often used by speculators to make money or by fans to show support for a celebrity or a moment in internet culture.

It's not the first time Trump has sold crypto products. He made millions by launching a series of NFTs of himself in various superhero poses in 2022.

Some industry analysts say the president having his own meme coin is a sign that others should follow.

"TRUMP token just signaled to every company, municipality, university & individual brand that crypto can now be used as a capital formation and customer bootstrapping mechanism," Jeff Dorman from investing firm Arca posted online.

However, the overall sentiment seems to be negative towards the president's meme coin.

Many in the crypto world are waiting for Trump to back up campaign promises to help boost the industry in the US. People like Danny Scott hope to see focused plans, particularly around Bitcoin, from the administration.

Last year, Trump promised Bitcoin fans he would make the US the "crypto capital of the planet." A few days into his term, the president has not issued executive orders involving cryptocurrency, nor has he mentioned it in his speeches.

TRUMP coin is now the 25th most valuable crypto coin with a value of around $8 billion, according to the website CoinMarketCap.

Trump and the team behind it own 80% of the coins, so in theory, they would make billions of dollars if they sold their shares and the price remained the same.

This set-up has been described by crypto researchers at K33 as outdated for similar tokens.

"There's no sugar-coating this - these tokenomics are horrendous for a meme-coin," said David Zimmerman, a K33 analyst.

However, K33 analysts acknowledge that the remaining 80% of coins can't be dumped on the open market, so investors are partially shielded from price shocks.