In January 2025, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump launched their official meme coins, TRUMP and MELANIA, causing a surge in cryptocurrency markets. These tokens, which have a combined market cap of over $9.4 billion, have gained global attention.
The Trump Meme Coin: What Is It?
The Trump meme coin (TRUMP) is a cryptocurrency launched by Donald Trump in 2024, marking his victory in the US presidential election. Launched on the Solana blockchain, it was launched two days before Trump’s inauguration.
The TRUMP token, created to celebrate US President Trump’s victory, is not an investment opportunity but an expression of support. As of January 22, 2025, it was the 23rd most valuable cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $8.36 billion. The token is not the first to be affiliated with the US President, as seen with the World Liberty Financial token in 2024.
The Official Melania Meme Coin: What Is It?
Melania Trump launched the official Melania meme coin (MELANIA) on January 20, 2025, on the Solana blockchain. Similar to the TRUMP token, MELANIA is an expression of support, not an investment opportunity.
Responses to the Launch of TRUMP & MELANIA
The launch of Trump’s official meme coins demonstrates the US presidential family’s support for the crypto industry, but their poor reputation and risks have caused mixed reactions from the crypto community, as meme coins are often associated with pump-and-dump schemes and rug pulls.
Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures, believes that presidents should focus on running the country and not launching scam tokens like TRUMP and MELANIA. He suggests that these tokens could open the door to secretive foreign buyers trying to curry influence with leaders, referencing former US president Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
Trump’s launch of a meme coin has been criticized by law firm Brown Rudnick and Hong Kong-based crypto market expert Willy Woo. Lennon believes Trump’s decision is purely for personal profit, while Woo questions the underlying value and technology behind the coin, stating it is a bubble minting on Solana.
Analysis of TRUMP & MELANIA Tokens
Let’s start by examining the distribution of the TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins.
Tokenomics for TRUMP
TRUMP has one billion tokens in total. At launch, 200 million tokens were produced. Over the course of three years, the remaining stock will be made available.
MELANIA Tokenomics
A total of one billion tokens are available in MELANIA. There were over 192.21 million MELANIA coins in circulation as of January 22, 2025.
Within 30 days of launch, 10% of the MELANIA tokens allotted to the creator team will become available. At a rate of 2.5 percent per month, the remaining 90% will be released in a linear fashion.
Performance of the TRUMP & MELANIA Markets
The TRUMP token reached an all-time high of $75.35 on January 19, 2025, but experienced high volatility, dropping 35% in an hour and then increasing over 20%. The coin fell sharply after Donald Trump’s inauguration speech and is currently trading at $41.8, 45% below its all-time high.
The MELANIA token, trading at $4 on January 22, 2024, has experienced a 50% drop in price compared to the TRUMP token, which was more popular among crypto investors due to its double on-chain holders.
As of January 22, 2025, TRUMP had 801,681 on-chain holders, while MELANIA had 358,569. Over $21.3 billion worth of TRUMP tokens were traded in the last 24 hours, compared to $818.08 million worth of MELANIA tokens.
Trump-affiliated meme coin launches have seen significant success, with the SOL token experiencing a 34% increase in the last seven days, outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) by 9% and Ether by 3.6%.
The Bottom Line
The crypto community is concerned about Trump’s official meme coin launch, which could potentially ridicule the industry and potentially be used to gain favor with the administration. The high concentration of TRUMP meme coins among insiders like CIC Digital, which constitutes 80% of the total supply, poses a significant risk for meme coin investors.
