The days before President Donald Trump's second term saw the unexpected launch of two new meme coins: the official Trump ($TRUMP) meme coin and the Melania
Two new meme coins, the official Trump ($TRUMP) meme coin and the Melania meme coin ($MELANIA), were launched in the days leading up to President Donald Trump's second term, as introduced by First Lady Melania Trump.
However, the crypto industry has largely viewed the new crypto ventures associated with the White House with skepticism, with prominent pro-crypto voices highlighting a range of issues — including the lack of utility of the tokens, the volatility and risks associated with meme coins, long-term regulatory concerns, and potential conflicts of interest arising from the viral, speculative tokens.
One note of caution came from Massachusetts Republican politician John Deaton, who campaigned on an avowedly pro-crypto agenda, but suggested that the complete deregulation of the crypto industry offered potential risks to retail investors. “Unfortunately, in this country, we tend to go from one extreme to the other," he told media. "For the last four years, there's been an unlawful and unjust – basically war – against [the] crypto industry. Now, unfortunately, we may be going from an extreme where an industry's being choked out unfairly to this wide open, no-holds-barred, free-for-all, and I don't want that."
Prominent internet sleuth CoffeeZilla was among those lamenting Trump's decision to launch a viral meme coin: "Dropping TRUMP meme coin two days before becoming president is nasty work," he wrote on a Twitter/X thread. "New [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission / Department of Justice] guarantees no prosecution. 80% of tokens vest to insiders during the presidency. Most people losing money will be MAGA, who aren't crypto native. [This] should be a crime, but crime is legal now, I guess?," he commented.
Some members of the crypto industry highlighted that the meme coin's launch has reignited concerns regarding the ways in which prominent celebrities and politicians leverage their influence for personal financial gain. "While there may be questions about the ethics of a former president launching a financial asset, Trump has been transparent in presenting it as a ‘collectible’ rather than an investment," Joe McCann, CEO of digital assets investment fund Asymmetric, told TheStreet Crypto. "The real conversation is less about this particular meme coin and more about the broader implications of public figures monetizing their influence — this is no different than Bechtel receiving no-bid contracts in the Iraq war or Nancy Pelosi trading stocks on insider information."
"What makes Trump’s move stand out is how directly it merges politics with the crypto space, signaling a new era of capital formation," McCann told TheStreet Crypto. "A former president issuing and investing in a token is a complete reversal of the previous administration’s anti-crypto stance and opens the door for entirely new conversations about crypto’s role in both culture and politics."
At the time of writing, the $TRUMP meme coin was trading at $26.62, according to CoinMarketCap, while the $MELANIA meme coin was valued at $2.45.
