Is the coin real?
That was the question that plagued cryptocurrency traders from the US to Asia alike when an “official” memecoin linked to Republican Donald Trump was issued in the early hours of Asia on Saturday from his verified X and Truth Social accounts. .
Prices ranged from a few cents to $14 in less than six hours amid widespread confusion over whether the token was actually backed by Trump or was a possible hack of Trump’s account with a fake token issued by the attacker to fleece to unsuspecting buyers.
🚨 JUST IN: A trader has made $29.8 million in $TRUMPDonald Trump’s official memecoin in Solana. He spent $1.09 million to buy 5,971,750 TRUMP coins, which are now worth $30.8 million in less than 2 hours, a gain of 2,634%. The merchant has not sold any coins yet. pic.twitter.com/HS56HoA85X
– Solana Floor (@SolanaFloor) January 18, 2025
CoinDesk was unable to independently confirm whether or not the token was legitimate until the early hours of Saturday morning in Europe.
The token, which is viewed with skepticism among some traders, has attracted $3 billion in trading volumes hours after its launch and has a market capitalization of $2 billion at current prices. It has netted first-time buyers more than $70 million in paper profits, and for smaller merchants up to $1 million, on-chain data shows.
The apparent move comes days before Trump takes office on January 20, and is the first time a sitting president will give his thumbs up to a memecoin. It is the latest in a long list of cryptocurrency-related businesses and products linked to Trump; the Republican had already issued multiple NFTs and the relatively new decentralized financial platform World Liberty Financial.
“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we represent: WINNING!” reads an X post from the @realDonaldTrump account. “Join my very special Trump community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to Have Fun!
Post X appeared on Saturday at 2:44 UTC and remained active until after 8:15 UTC. Initially it was perceived as
The token was first published on Trump’s Truth Social, where it went from a fully diluted valuation of $200 million to over $1.3 billion in just over an hour. It gained traction and interest from cryptocurrency traders after the X release.
A disclaimer on the meme’s website stated that the Trump meme token was intended to function as an “expression of support and commitment to the ideals and beliefs embodied by the $TRUMP symbol” and is not “intended to be or to be.” object of an investment opportunity, investment contract or security of any type.”
The reasoning is in line with how memecoin markets have been set up since late 2024, moving away from mere image-related tokens (like dogecoin) to cult tokens where holders believe in a shared vision or idea that the brand implies (like SPX6900 flipping the US stock market, or MOG representing “token gains”).
Meanwhile, some previously issued Trump-themed memecoins took a hit early Saturday, falling as much as 50% as their value proposition fell.
