Trump Issues Meme Coin 'OfficialTrump' on the 17th

Surges 40,000% in Two Days...Achieves 2nd Place in Meme Coin Market Cap

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the issuance of his meme coin 'OfficialTrump (TRUMP)' on the 17th (local time), sparking optimism and skepticism within the cryptocurrency industry.

On that day, President Trump posted a surprising announcement on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, "You can purchase OfficialTrump from the website starting today." Rumors quickly spread that his social media account might have been hacked. However, since President Trump did not deny the claim and the token was listed on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the price of OfficialTrump soared rapidly.

OfficialTrump surged to $77 within two days of its launch, marking a 43,000% increase from its initial price of $0.18. During this period, OfficialTrump's market capitalization soared to over $10 billion, ranking second in the meme coin market. As of the 23rd, OfficialTrump has partially retraced its surge and is trading around $36.

The news was met with optimism in the cryptocurrency industry, with expectations that a country's president directly participating in the cryptocurrency market would accelerate the popularization and adoption of cryptocurrencies. In fact, the spot trading volume of OfficialTrump on centralized exchanges (CEX) reached $38 billion (approx. 54 trillion KRW) as of the 22nd.

An analyst at Hashed, An Soo-bin, told BloomingBit, "President Trump's issuance of a meme coin has attracted new users unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies to the market, and its growth is expected to coincide with the launch of Trump's second administration."

Jeff Dorman, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Arca, stated, "As President Trump steps in as a cryptocurrency issuer and investor, crypto projects no longer need to fear regulation," and added, "New use cases for blockchain are being realized, and the cryptocurrency industry will enter an era of massive adoption."

An analysis by global investment bank Bernstein stated, "President Trump's issuance of a meme coin is a significant event that will shift the paradigm of the cryptocurrency industry," and predicted, "It will demonstrate a different approach from the strict regulations of the previous administration."

On the other hand, there were also critical voices. Meme coins have been criticized as mere speculative tools due to their lack of intrinsic value and extreme price volatility. Some media outlets pointed out, "Trump is pursuing personal gain by leveraging his presidency," and "The sitting president is improperly exercising his influence."

There are also concerns that OfficialTrump might become an obstacle to the 'pro-crypto policies' pursued by the Trump administration. There is a possibility that the Democratic Party will use President Trump's issuance of a meme coin as evidence of the risks of cryptocurrencies. U.S. investment bank TD Cowen analyzed, "The Democratic Party is likely to demand detailed information about OfficialTrump," and added, "This could heighten tensions between the two parties and delay the adoption of cryptocurrency legislation."

Jeong Seok-moon, head of Presto Research, also evaluated, "Investors who suffer losses from investing in OfficialTrump or illegal activities such as 'securities law violations' during the issuance process could negatively impact the Trump administration's cryptocurrency policies."

Lee Yong-jun, director at Factomind, stated, "Due to OfficialTrump, participants in the cryptocurrency market may attempt to issue tokens more boldly," and added, "However, as the issuance of tokens by celebrities increases, the number of damage cases may also rise. Consequently, additional regulations related to token issuance may be introduced."