SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s newly minted cryptocurrency soared to surpass $9 billion in market value on Monday, generating billions in trading volume just hours before the U.S. president-elect’s return to office. White House.
The meme coin, also known as $TRUMP, rose 73% to $46.06 during Asian hours on Monday, giving it a market capitalization of around $9.2 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Its 24-hour trading volume reached $42.2 billion.
Trump on Friday launched the digital token with an image of his assassination attempt in July, expanding his cryptocurrency interests that already include World Liberty Financial.
Even participants in the cryptocurrency community were surprised by the launch of the Trump meme coin.
“While it’s tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump show, the launch of the official Trump token opens a Pandora’s (OTC:) box of ethical and regulatory questions,” said Justin D’Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong. Kong.
While the coin represents a blending of the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) with the political arena, it also “blurs the lines between governance, profits and influence,” D’Anethan said.
“Should public figures, especially those with such political clout, exert this kind of influence on speculative markets? That’s a question regulators are unlikely to ignore,” he said.
Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, highlighted the jump in the value of $TRUMP and called it the new digital gold, on the X messaging platform.
Trump has promised to be a “crypto president” and is expected to issue executive orders aimed at reducing crypto regulatory hurdles and promoting widespread adoption of digital assets.
He is scheduled to take office at noon ET (1700 GMT) on Monday.
The prospect of looser regulations around crypto policy has been met with fanfare by the industry and fueled a rally in bitcoin following Trump’s election victory in November.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency last traded 2.6% lower at $101,826.51 on Monday, and is up more than 10% so far this month.
