Donald and Melania Trump meme coins: Prices fall from peak highs as eyebrows rise

While many presidents-in-waiting may spend the hours before their inaugurations finalizing staff and cabinet picks and marshaling support on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump and Melania Trump were up to something else: launching meme cryptocurrencies.

On Sunday, Melania Trump announced that she had launched her own cryptocurrency, $MELANIA, to pair with Donald Trump’s crypto coin, $TRUMP, which launched on Friday.

Both meme coins saw their values skyrocket almost immediately. However, as of midday on Monday, $TRUMP was trading for around $44 (down from a high of nearly $75), while the $MELANIA coin was trading for $6.37 after reaching a high of $13.64.

The coins will exist on the Solana blockchain.

Trump, who was initially a crypto skeptic, has since come around and embraced the technology, courting crypto bros and others in the industry as a part of his campaign to be reelected last summer and fall.

In July, he made remarks at a Bitcoin convention, saying that if he were reelected, he would usher in a golden era of crypto by removing Gary Gensler, commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—who has been notably hostile toward crypto—and by adopting many other crypto-friendly policies.

Conflict-of-interest concerns

With a lot of pressing matters facing Trump as he is sworn back in as president, the launching of a cryptocurrency may seem easy to overlook. If it were any other incoming president, it may, in fact, be something of a scandal.

The main issue, perhaps, is that there are ethical concerns at play: Trump and his wife have launched cryptocurrencies that they stand to benefit or profit from, and Trump will now rule over the federal government, which regulates the crypto markets. So there’s a clear conflict of interest.

The majority of the Trump coin’s supply (80%) is owned by Fight Fight Fight LLC and Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Meme coins are often highly volatile, meaning supporters of the Trump-branded coins could stand to lose significant investments in a relatively short time if the value of the coins sink.

Trump had similar conflicts of interest all through his first term in the White House. For example, numerous White House visitors would stay at the nearby Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., effectively putting money into his businesses ahead of meeting him. Taxpayers would also foot the bill when he would stay at his numerous properties, and charge Secret Service agents for hotel rooms.

In response to the Trump coin, billionaire Mark Cuban posted a message on X mostly directed at crypto exchange Coinbase. “Are you sure you want to offer meme coins?” he posted, asking why Solana should “have all the fun.”

“There are no rules against you minting your own,” Cuban continued. “In fact EVERYONE can do their own $Trump and $Melania. The only rule is that there are no rules. You think that’s good now. Right? Mint it, Print it, Sell it, Fuck it FTW?”