On Friday night, President-elect Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. “My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE!” read the post, with an accompanying link and a picture of the incoming president, fist raised with “Fight Fight Fight’ superimposed on the image.
While crypto watchers speculated online whether Trump had been hacked, an accompanying post on X followed less than an hour later with the same message. The newly launched token exploded, breaking a market cap of $1 billion by midnight Eastern Time and crossing $6.75 billion on Saturday morning before giving up some of those gains. As of publication, the Trump coin is the 27th largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to https://t.co/GX3ZxT5xyq — Have Fun! pic.twitter.com/flIKYyfBrC
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2025
With Trump’s inauguration just two days away, his apparent entrance into the volatile world of memecoins marks a staggering new height for the crypto industry, as the incoming U.S. president appears to capitalize on a speculative instrument best known for its joke-tinged, and often disastrous, tokens like Fartcoin and the Hawk Tuah coin.
And with Trump’s announcement post linked to a bare-bones page that allows users to purchase the cryptocurrency, it is still unclear how the token works—and whether users should expect the all-too-common “rug pull,” where memecoins’ value evaporates in moments.
“Can the president rug pull? Is that a bad look?” said Scott Armstrong, a former prosecutor who handled crypto cases for the DOJ, in an email to Fortune. “He probably can’t/wont. So up we go.”
The crypto president
Trump’s announcement came as many of the blockchain industry’s top figures—who backed the incoming President heavily in the election campaign—gathered to celebrate his win at a black-tie ball in Washington, D.C., where executives mingled with politicians including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) amid performances by Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, and Soulja Boy.
After expressing skepticism about crypto during his firm term, including referring to Bitcoin as a “scam,” Trump embraced the disruptive sector during his campaign for a second term, appearing at blockchain industry events and naming the venture capitalist David Sacks as his “crypto and AI czar” after winning the election. He has promised a more pro-crypto stance after regulatory crackdowns by the Biden administration, including by appointing a more sympathetic Securities and Exchange Commission Chair, and helping to pass legislation legislation to help the industry grow.
Trump has also embarked on crypto projects of his own, including a series of NFT projects and a lending protocol called World Liberty Financial. Still, until Friday, he has avoided launching his own branded cryptocurrency—an approach favored by many internet celebrities, such as the TikTok star Haliey “Hawk Tuah girl” Welch, whose ill-fated memecoin caused her to retreat from the public eye in December. A previous Trump memecoin launched last summer with alleged involvement from his son, Barron Trump, although it was never officially associated with the president’s family and plummeted in value.
With Trump’s official memecoin still less than 24 hours old, online crypto communities are still scrambling to understand its surprise creation, including the figures behind the launch and how the distribution—or tokenomics—will function. Some, including digital sleuth Coffeezilla, have pointed out that ownership seems to be concentrated to a small group of insiders. The website linked to the announcement shows that 80% of the supply is distributed to holders associated with the project and a lockup of 2 years, meaning the period they cannot sell tokens. The full supply will be released over three years.
Despite its opaque structure, the memecoin’s association with the incoming president caused it to erupt, crossing a fully diluted value of $30 billion—meaning the full value of the cryptocurrency once all its tokens are circulating. And though the legal uncertainty around memecoins have caused more cautious financial firms to stay away, the apparent endorsement by Trump marks a new era for blockchain experimentation—and potential peril.
Solana, the native cryptocurrency of the blockchain hosting the memecoin, also rose over 20%.
