President-elect Donald Trump has launched a new meme coin called $TRUMP

Analysts say it has the potential to make a lot of money for Trump and his family, but some ethics experts say it's another effort to cash in on the nation's highest office.

President-elect Donald Trump has announced the launch of a new meme coin, $TRUMP, sparking mixed reactions among analysts and ethics experts.

Announced in a Truth Social post late Friday, the cryptocurrency is touted by Trump as a celebration of his "WINNING" the presidential election. However, some experts believe it is an attempt by the president-elect to cash in on the nation's highest office.

Here's a closer look at the $TRUMP coin and the reactions it has garnered:

What is the $TRUMP coin?

The Trump-backed meme coin is a cryptocurrency token that features an image of Trump following his assassination attempt. It was created by Solana, a cryptocurrency and blockchain company, with a limited supply of 200 million $TRUMP coins at the initial launch. The supply will increase to 1 billion coins over the next three years, according to the coin's website.

The remaining tokens that are yet to be put up for sale are owned by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company formed in Delaware on Jan. 7, state filings show. Both companies will receive an undisclosed amount of revenue from the coin trade, Forbes reports.

By the numbers:

The price of $TRUMP surged by more than 300% to just below $29 as of 10:15 a.m. ET Saturday. It reached a market cap of $5.81 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data obtained by Forbes.

$TRUMP disclaimer

The $TRUMP website includes a disclaimer stating that the token is "not intended to be, or the subject of" an investment opportunity or a security of any type and is "not political and has nothing to do with" any political activity or government agency.

Why are meme coins risky?

Dig deeper:

While all cryptocurrency carries risk, meme coins can be particularly dangerous for traders, an expert told CNBC.

"Meme coins are among the riskiest of cryptocurrencies because they seem to emerge from nowhere and information about them can be sparse," he says. "They're expected to soar and plummet as the public sentiment shifts this way and that. Meme coins may capture the public's fancy today and be gone tomorrow."

Why are Trump’s meme coins considered unethical?

The other side:

Ethics attorneys have called the latest venture by Trump and his family a blatant effort to profit from the presidency.

"It is literally cashing in on the presidency — creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president's family in connection with his office" Adav Noti, executive director of Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit ethics group, told The New York Times. "It is beyond unprecedented."