Is Trump’s Meme coin harvesting $50 billion part of BTC’s national strategy?

Source: Geek Park

Officially taking office as President of the United States, withdrawing from the World Health Organization, handling the TikTok ban, revoking preferential policies for electric vehicles, ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants... Trump did a lot of things on his first day in office. After all, before taking office, he had declared "I will issue hundreds of executive orders on my first day in office."

But two days before he officially became the President of the United States, he took time out of his busy schedule to engage in an "abstract act": issuing his own digital currency - Trump Coin ($Trump).

On January 18, Trump, who was two days away from becoming the President of the United States, announced his new business on Truth, a social media developed by his own group: he released a meme coin named $Trump. With the slogan "Join my very unique Trump community", the tokens are printed with the Meme image of Trump shaking his fist when he was assassinated in July.

According to the official announcement at 10 a.m., $Trump’s market value had risen to US$5.5 billion by the afternoon, and the next day the total market value soared to nearly US$15 billion. The price of a single currency soared from the initial US$0.1824 to a maximum of US$82, an increase of nearly 45,000% .

Taking advantage of the victory, on January 20, First Lady Melania Trump also issued her own cryptocurrency, also in the form of a meme coin, named $MELANIA, which came with a beautiful photo of Melania. . On January 21, Trump's youngest son Barron, who is known as "Americans grew up watching," also issued the meme coin "BARRON" with the same name, and its market value once soared to US$400 million.

You know, Trump has previously called cryptocurrency a "scam," saying it is not a real currency, is built on the air, and may promote illegal activities. As a result, two days before taking office, Trump not only issued cryptocurrency himself, but after seeing the market value surge, his wife also joined in.

Is this a successful harvest for America’s first family? Or is it the new ruler’s “personal” support for cryptocurrency?

01 Right words to cut leeks

To be honest, $Trump’s official website looks a lot like an informal digital currency scam website.

The announcement of Trump meme coin does look like an altcoin | Source: Trump Meme

The person who comes into view is waving his fists. I don’t know if it’s the AI ​​Trump or the Trump who has been severely beautified. His iconic fluffy hair is not even buttoned cleanly, forming a strange white border against the blue background.

Under the two purchase methods, a line of small text reads "Trump Meme is intended to express support and participation in the ideals and beliefs embodied in $Trump and related artworks. It is not intended to be an investment opportunity of any kind, and is also non-Meme." Political."

In the "Terms of Use" that are often ignored, there is also a specially bolded small paragraph. In addition to repeating the above paragraph, it also adds, " We absolutely do not promise or guarantee that the value of Trump Meme will increase or increase. " Keep the price at the time of your purchase." and " All transactions are non-refundable, and we are not responsible for loss or inaccessibility. " Another bold paragraph is added at the bottom of the terms, " Class Action Waiver " , to the effect of this clause. Users are prohibited from filing, joining, or participating in a class action lawsuit.

When promoting this meme coin, the website wrote that during the assassination, Trump showed the world a leader and ignited a movement with strength and courage. He pumped his fists and shouted "Fight!" ” is the most memorable meme of this century.

The website also compares purchasing $TRUMP to "This is your opportunity to join a community dedicated to fighting for what matters! Own a piece of history!"

The entire website is filled with the personality cult of Trump, which makes a financial act highly meaningful and continues to strip away its financial essence.

There is no introduction to the characteristics of meme coins, such as low unit price, greater volatility than ordinary cryptocurrencies, and short lifespan. There is no explanation at all about the Solana blockchain technology it is based on, and only a one-word notification is given to users.

The simplest Q&A｜Source: Trump Meme

The value of meme coins that have become popular in recent years depends largely on its traffic. The most popular meme coin before $TRUMP is Dogecoin (DOGE). It had previously surged after Trump won the election and Musk was appointed as the head of the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE).

Therefore, some people believe that Trump is giving his "red neck" fans who support him an opportunity for financial freedom.

However, according to a disclosure on a website that sells tokens, the total supply of Trump coins is 1 billion, with an initial circulation of 200 million. The remaining 800 million belong to Trump-related companies and will be used in the next three years. It will be gradually released during the year. With the sale of tokens, Trump will receive a large amount of funds in liquidation.

This also led Adav Noti, executive director of the non-profit ethics organization Campaign Legal Centre, to publicly say: "This is actually using the presidency to make money - creating a financial instrument that allows people to transfer money directly to the president's family through the presidential office. It's really It’s unprecedented.”

People in the currency circle can’t sit still. Former Coinbase executive Nick Tomaino also said on People will suffer from this .”

Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinvasan also warned that “meme coins are a zero- sum lottery that does not create wealth and will eventually collapse after a surge, and the last person to take over loses everything.”

Jim Chanos, a fund manager in the hedging circle, even bluntly said, "This means that the next four years will become the golden age of fraud."

Source: X

In response to this wave of remarks about "cutting people off," Trump's second son Eric said frankly, "I am very proud of our achievements in encryption. $Trump is currently the most popular digital meme currency on the planet. This is just the beginning."

Indeed, before the birth of $Trump, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $6.7 billion. After the emergence of $Trump, including the 800 million $Trump held by his affiliates, theoretically his net worth could reach $51 billion. The wealth accumulated over a century by three generations of the Trump family is not as liquidable as meme coins in a few hours .

After realizing his political wealth, Trump seems to be giving himself one last term to accumulate economic wealth. This also perfectly fits Trump’s two identities:

Businessmen and politicians .

02 _ ****_Just to make money or national strategy

Trump, who started out as a traditional businessman, once disliked cryptocurrencies very much. He has expressed his dissatisfaction with cryptocurrency on many occasions on social media and in TV interviews. Calling it a "scam", "built on the air" and "will promote illegal activities".

However, in recent years, Trump's mentality has changed as he interacted with Silicon Valley elites. Especially in the 2024 election year, his attitude towards cryptocurrency has taken a 180-degree turn.

Last July, just ten days after his assassination, Trump appeared at the annual Bitcoin conference and gave a speech . Said that if he could return to the White House, he would ask the government to build a large Bitcoin reserve, deconstruct the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and choose a cryptocurrency-friendly regulator (which has already been done). He also promised to form a Presidential Advisory Council on the Crypto Industry so that the United States will become the "cryptocurrency capital of the earth."

Trump attends the 2024 Bitcoin Conference｜Source: Reuters

As soon as this speech came out, the currency circle was also abuzz, because during Biden's term, the supervision of the encryption industry was unprecedentedly strict. The government came forward to suppress Bitcoin, promote central bank digital currency, and even arrested currency circle giants.

Trump, who openly supports Bitcoin, has also received reciprocation from the currency circle.

According to his campaign aides, after the Trump campaign announced in May that it would accept cryptocurrency donations, it raised approximately $7.5 million in digital token donations within two months. Trump also mentioned in his speech that he had raised $25 million from the encryption industry.

After Trump won the election, Bitcoin went straight to a record high, exceeding US$100,000 per coin. On the eve of the inauguration, it once exceeded US$110,000 . The Bitcoin industry used this to "set off fireworks" to boost the new president's momentum. ”.

Dogecoin has soared 135%, and the entire cryptocurrency market has seen a surge in trading volume. This craze stalled slightly before Trump took office, and then became popular again after the Trump family launched meme coins one after another.

Bitcoin trend after Trump was elected｜Source: Google

As a politician, I support anyone who my opponent opposes. Trump has quickly accumulated favorability in the currency circle within a year. Even this time, when several big guys criticized $Trump, they first praised the new president for his attitude towards the industry. recognized. At present, major media and practitioners have revealed that Trump will soon issue an executive order that is beneficial to cryptocurrency.

As a businessman, Trump’s eldest son and second son successively established cryptocurrency companies last year. Since he wants to lead the US government to embrace cryptocurrency, it is better to make this wave of money for his family first.

First Lady Melania Trump’s meme coin｜Source: X

However, they did not seem to intend to delve into the field of cryptocurrency for a long time. Instead, they chose to rely on the wave of traffic before Trump’s inauguration ceremony to issue the fastest-monetizing meme coin. In the digital currency industry, the Trump family has ambitions, but not big ones. They reveal that they are businessmen who only want quick money.

No matter how much $Trump claims to "support ideals", as the President of the United States, Trump has the power to influence the ups and downs of an industry. He can use this power and traffic to speculate on coins with FamilyMart IP. Although he looks ugly, he is the best combination of his three identities: businessman, Internet celebrity, and politician.

Orbit Markets co-founder Caroline Mauron described the Trump family's currency issuance as "even the cryptocurrency industry did not fully anticipate... I think people were expecting that he would pursue a more traditional policy approach."

This view also condenses the attitude of many people in the currency circle: shocked, confused, looking forward to Trump’s support for the industry, and fearing that he will disrupt the order of the industry.

This is exactly what Trump did to traditional American politics: stepping into the game, shuffling the cards and starting over, not playing by the rules, and subverting the establishment.

On the other hand, the new president’s alternative support for the encryption industry has also made it more likely that Bitcoin will become a strategic reserve in the United States. Not only are large companies in Silicon Valley hoarding more Bitcoins publicly or privately, but at least 8 people across the country have The management of several states is planning a front-running plan to add cryptocurrencies.

Just like no one can predict the behavior and psychology of the new president, the skyrocketing and plummeting $Trump may be just the beginning for the encryption industry.