A brief Trump family token frenzy has left hopeful investors with big losses.
The official memecoins of US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania are down as much as 60% in the past 24 hours amid strong profit-taking following Monday’s inauguration. Futures tracking the two tokens have had similarly poor results for traders: with liquidation losses of nearly $70 million for those betting on higher prices.
These are also not thinly traded tokens where prices are easy to change. The data shows that TRUMP racked up over $19 billion in volumes over a 24-hour period, while MELANIA saw $4.5 billion exchange hands.
Major tokens such as Tron’s TRX and Cardano’s ADA saw volumes of less than $4 billion in the same period, indicating the strong interest in Trump family-themed tokens.
Overall purchasing volumes are stagnating in line with prices on the Moonshot trading app, which was one of the first to offer TRUMP to retail traders. A Dune dashboard created by @Seoulcalibur.eth shows that volumes have fallen from an average of over $6 million on January 18-19, to just over $1 million in the last 24 hours.
Crypto markets expected Trump to mention the asset class in his inaugural address, such as plans for a promised strategic bitcoin reserve, but a lack of relevant words saw BTC fall from a Monday high above $109,000 to just over $101,000. in the Asian morning hours of Monday.
However, traders remain optimistic about a pro-crypto policy in the near term, focusing on Solana’s SOL tokens.
“The launch of $TRUMP on SOL proves to be a significant support to the chain, making it possible for the SOL ETF to gain approval much sooner than expected,” Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a broadcast on Tuesday. “With increased media exposure due to similar releases, retail entries are likely to arrive in droves.”
“Trump’s memecoin launch appeals not only to the memecoin retail masses, but also to major institutions, as it solidifies the president’s pro-cryptocurrency stance. “Institutional investors are on the edge of their seats, waiting for concrete pro-cryptocurrency policies that can significantly influence the future of the economy,” the company added.
