Trump Family’s Crypto Venture: $Trump Token Soars Then Plummets
Trump’s Pre-Inauguration Crypto Launch: A Bold Market Entry
Prior to the inauguration the Trump family made a foray into the meme coin market.
On Friday, January 17, President-elect Donald Trump announced the launch of the $Trump cryptocurrency.
At the time of the launch, the token was trading at $4.29 before rocketing to $79.
Melania’s Token Launch Creates Market Turbulence
Two days later, speculative-minded investors shifted their focus to a token launched by his wife, Melania.
This move dragged down Trump’s meme coin as investors took profit and cashed out to buy into the $Melania meme coin.
However, this rally was short-lived as $Melania sank far below the ICO price within the space of a few hours.
The Strategy Behind $Trump Token
Notably, the $Trump launch reflects the incoming president’s efforts to cash in on his image as a crypto-friendly politician.
This project was clearly designed for quick monetization. While there is no way Trump could have ever made a billion dollars within a couple of days by selling Trump caps or T-shirts, the crypto market made this goal possible.
In fact, $Trump is a crypto currency with no fundamental value and its price hinges on Trump’s popularity rating and his success as a national leader.
Exchange Listings and Token Distribution Analysis
On January 18, $Trump commenced trading on the decentralized exchange (aka DEX) before getting listed on leading crypto exchanges such as Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, HTX, Gate, and Kraken.
Crypto market media wired that only 20% of the total $Trump volume is currently available on the open market as the other 80% is held by Donald Trump.
Initially, 200 mn tokens were offered and the plan is to raise this number to 1 bn within three years.
Price Volatility and Trading Performance
As regards the performance of this meme coin, it was predictably unstable in its first days of trading, with volatility levels 15x higher than those for bitcoin and 8-10x higher than for altcoins.
The $Trump token briefly shot up to $79 before sinking to $39 in a matter of hours during the January 19 session.
The downtrend has gained momentum heading into the close of the first trading week, with the price action near $36.5 on January 23.
The $Trump meme coin might do the trick for speculatively-minded traders, experts warn, but its longer-term outlook remains uncertain since it holds no fundamental value.
Market Response to Inauguration Speech
Investors initially welcomed Trump’s push for easing cryptocurrency regulations, with his presidential victory triggering an upsurge in digital currencies across the board.
However, Trump omitted any reference to cryptocurrencies or his own token in the January 20 inauguration speech. Consequently, bitcoin, Ethereum and the $Trump meme coin took a hit.
Technical Analysis and Future Price Projections
On the 30-minute chart above, $Trump debuted in the second half of last week and then peaked at a fully diluted market value of about $73 bn on Sunday.
Since then, this meme coin has slumped 50% but still holds a fully diluted value of $38 bn. Insider selling could drive the price action down, making it difficult for Trump to cash out.
In technical terms, the Trumps’ meme coins are hard to analyze for the time being due to their limited track record.
In our view, the $Trump token will likely decline to the next strong support level near $31 over the next few weeks.
As for the $Melania coin, investor interest has subsided in recent days, with the price action trending sharply lower.
During the first half of trading on Thursday, January 23, the $Melania meme coin plunged to $2.85, down 80% from its January 20 high.
