The Trump Cryptocurrency Meme Coin Could Be a Pump-and-Dump Scheme

Days before his inauguration, Donald Trump launched a crypto token named $TRUMP, sparking a buying spree among Trump fans that briefly put the meme coin's market cap as high as $15 billion.

Days before taking office, former President Donald Trump launched a cryptocurrency meme coin called $TRUMP, kicking off a buying spree among Trump fans that briefly pushed the meme coin’s market cap to $15 billion.

Now, the market cap is lower, but still sits at nearly $6 billion. Trump has stated that he launched the coin, though disclaimer copy on the footer of its website amusingly states that Trump’s coin “has nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency.”

First Lady Melania Trump also launched a crypto token, and its market cap currently sits at $424 million. Technology researcher Molly White has explained that market cap figures in crypto are flawed when compared with traditional currencies, so take these figures with a grain of salt. This is because early estimates of market cap are usually derived by extrapolating out the price of a small number of tokens, compared with the larger amount of reserve tokens yet to enter circulation.

Interestingly, Trump-owned companies own 80% of the $TRUMP coins, which gives it the classic signature of a potential “pump-and-dump” scheme rather than a collectible whose value could appreciate as Trump’s legend grows. On the official website, collectors can “buy now with a debit card or crypto,” and other registered users on crypto exchanges like Coinbase can purchase the token after connecting a bank account, debit card, or other methods like Google Pay.