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US President-elect Donald Trump has launched his own cryptocurrency, which quickly rose to several billion dollars in market capitalization.
He launched the meme coin, $Trump, on Monday as he prepares to take office as the 47th president of the United States.
The initiative was coordinated by CIC Digital LLC – an affiliate of the Trump Organization – which has previously sold Trump-branded shoes and perfume.
Meme coins are used to build popularity for an internet trend or viral movement, but have no intrinsic value and are a highly volatile investment.
By Saturday afternoon, hours after the launch, Trump’s market capitalization had reached almost $5.5 billion (£4.5 billion), according to CoinMarketCap.com.
CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, companies incorporated in Delaware earlier this month, own 80% of the tokens. It’s not clear how much money Trump might make from the venture.
“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate all we stand for: WIN!” Trump tweeted Truth Social on his social media platform Friday night when he announced the meme coin.
About 200m of the digital tokens have been issued and another 800m will be issued over the next three years, the coin’s website said.
“This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds,” the site said.
It included a disclaimer stating that the coin is not intended as an investment opportunity or security and is “non-political and has no affiliation” with any political campaign, political office or government agency.
Critics accused Trump of winning the presidency, and one crypto commentator called the meme coin a “predator.”
“Trump’s 80 percent ownership and launch hours before his inauguration are predatory and will likely hurt a lot,” Nick Tomaino, a crypto venture capitalist and former executive at Coinbase, one of the largest crypto trading platforms, said in a social media post. .
Such digital tokens are notorious for speculators using hype to pump up value before selling at the top of the market, leaving latecomers to count their losses as the price falls.
Cryptocurrency investors expect the Trump administration to give the industry a big boost.
President Joe Biden’s regulators cited concerns about fraud and money laundering as they cracked down on crypto companies by suing exchanges.
Trump was previously outspoken about cryptocurrencies.
But he said at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville last year that America would be the “crypto capital of the planet” when he returned to Washington.
His sons Erik and Donald Jr. announced their own crypto company last year.
