Trump's “official“ memecoin raised billions of dollars in a matter of hours - CoinDesk

The "official" memecoin, which is associated with US President-elect Donald Trump, was released on Saturday morning from his verified X and Truth Social accounts, UNN reports, citing CoinDesk.

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Prices rose from a few cents to $14 in less than six hours amid widespread confusion over whether the token was endorsed by Trump. 

"Is the coin real? That question plagued crypto traders from the US to Asia when the "official" memecoin, which is linked to Republican Donald Trump, was released on Saturday morning (Asia time) 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 endorsed by Trump or whether it was a possible hack of Trump's account with a fake token issued by an attacker to fool unsuspecting buyers," the publication writes.

CoinDesk, as noted, was unable to independently confirm whether the token was legitimate or not as of Saturday morning in Europe.

"The token, which is viewed with skepticism by some traders, attracted $3 billion in trading volume within hours of launch and has a market capitalization of $2 billion at current prices. It has brought early buyers more than $70 million in paper profits and small traders up to $1 million, according to onchain data," the publication points out.

The token was published on Trump's Truth Social and received support and interest from crypto traders after the post in X. This happened a few days before Trump took office on January 20.

A disclaimer on the meme's website stated that the Trump meme was intended to "express support for and engagement with the ideals and beliefs embodied by the $TRUMP symbol" and was not "intended to be or be the subject of an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.

The reasoning is in line with how memecoin markets have been shaping up since late 2024, moving from simple tokens associated with pictures (e.g., dogecoin) to iconic tokens whose holders believe in a common vision or idea implied by a brand (e.g., SPX6900, which turns the US stock market around, or MOG, which represents "tokenized victory"), the publication notes.

Meanwhile, some previously released Trump memes suffered on Saturday morning, falling by 50% as their value proposition dropped, the publication writes.

Market capitalization of cryptocurrencies reached $4 trillion13.12.24, 12:36 • 16092 views