Trump, Crypto’s Intended White Knight, Immediately Worries the Industry
For the crypto industry, President Trump is something of an enigma. But the launch of the Trump family coins was a bit, well, embarrassing.
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In the words of Max Bialystock, “Please, don’t help me.”
For the crypto industry, President Trump is something of an enigma. His inauguration precipitated bitcoin hitting its highest value ever as he’s expected to be a proponent of crypto-friendly regulation. However, in the 24 hours before he was sworn in, not only did Trump launch his own cryptocurrency but so did his wife, Melania Trump. The interlocking dynamics of the two tokens from familia de Trump didn’t paint the image of an industry ready for the sheen of legitimacy, which the crypto lobby so desperately craves.
All In
Trump has not always been pro-crypto. In 2021, Trump told Fox News that he thought bitcoin, by far the most established cryptocurrency, “just seems like a scam.” But he’s had a Damascus Conversion since then, and picked a promising handful of officials to join his administration, from the crypto industry’s point of view.
Then came Friday, and Trump launched his own cryptocurrency called $TRUMP on the eve of his re-entry into the White House. The coin’s value initially skyrocketed from $10 to $70, but then on Sunday, on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, Melania Trump launched her own currency, $MELANIA, and as investors flocked to that coin, Trump’s own coin lost a chunk of its value. Still no word on whether we can expect $IVANKA, $DONJR, $ERIC, or $BARRON.
For the crypto lobby, the launch of the Trump family coins was a bit, well, embarrassing:
- “This is a horrible look for the industry already trying to make the case that we’re not a bunch of hucksters, scammers and fraudsters,” one anonymous pro-crypto Washington lobbyist told Politico. “They’re plumbing new depths of idiocy with the memecoin launch,” Nic Carter, a founder at crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, told the outlet.
- A memecoin is a cryptocurrency that’s just tied to a fad or a joke. At best, memecoins are the most unserious end of the cryptocurrency spectrum, and at worst, they’re associated with pump-and-dump schemes that leave late buyers with no value.
You Live By the Meme: “Trump needs to fire his crypto advisors, from top to bottom and replace them with people who know what they are doing,” Gabor Gurbacs, former director of digital asset strategy at VanEck, tweeted. “The memecoins cost the US, the presidency and his family a lot of credibility and the consequences haven’t even started,” he added. It’s not terribly helpful that the last big memecoin to be in the public-eye was $HAWK, launched by viral internet personality Haliey Welch — or “Hawk Tuah” girl — which shot up 900% in value before crashing back to earth, prompting accusations that insiders started the sell-off.