TRUMP: Just Another Meme Coin or ‘The Sh*ttiness of the Industry’?

The massive political capture of crypto — that was once supposed to be about separation of money and state —is nauseating to anyone, like Higashi, who's been in the game more than five years.

The CEO of Japanese bitcoin company, Diamond Hands, has slammed TrumpCoin, calling it a testament to 'the sh*ttiness of this industry.'

Koji Higashi posted on X Sunday that “The fact that we have to take TrumpCoin seriously seems to epitomize the sh*ttiness of this industry.” He was referring to the new meme coin from the incumbent figurehead leader, and said it was actually turning former bitcoin supporters away from BTC.

Koji Higashi’s company, Diamond Hands, is also facing some issues, having recently announced a pivot away from their Lightning Network community node. The perpetually broken protocol that’s always just 2 years away from being ready doesn’t seem to be doing them any favors. Still, the Japanese entrepreneur lamented and mentioned “despair” in an X post about the latest meme coin, Official Trump.

Is TRUMP just another meme coin or ‘The sh*ttiness of the industry’?

Indeed, the massive political capture of crypto — that was once supposed to be about separation of money and state —is nauseating to anyone, like Higashi, who’s been in the game more than five years. But there is no rationality to manipulated markets. Trump, who has promised to free Silk Road darknet marketplace founder Ross Ulbricht “on day one” (amongst a plethora of other assurances) has now launched a website for his own premined crypto just before being stepping into his White House role once again, tomorrow.

The website for Trump’s stunt amusingly reads that the coin has nothing to do with politics. It further lays out the premined nature of the coin in small print at the bottom of the page: “CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC collectively own 80% of the Trump Cards, subject to a 3-year unlocking schedule.”

Higashi noted in another X post that some people who used to support bitcoin are now turning away due to this meme coin. He also stated that “the people who originally got interested in Bitcoin got into it because they didn’t like this kind of thing, so it’s like a polar opposite world.”

However, the coin’s team says on his self-congratulatory site, “… President Trump showed the world what a LEADER is made of. His strength and courage ignited a movement becoming the most memorable meme of the century.” Higashi’s running reflections on X do raise interesting questions in light of such bold, all-caps claims.

Advocates of Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision of peer-to-peer electronic cash without the need of a financial institution, those who felt the sting of past broken political promises (such as ‘locking up’ Hillary Clinton), and the kids in Gaza who will have to deal with Trump’s support of a life-destroying war where they live, might see the furore over this coin as tragically insulting more than “bullish.” Or, in Higashi’s own words: “There is a sense of despair.”