Trump's Meme Coin Skyrockets 19,000% Amid Criticism Over Ethics and Policy Implications
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| Trump's Meme Coin Surges 19,000%, Sparks Ethics Debate |
Trump's Meme Coin , a cryptocurrency that's supposed to be inspired by Donald Trump suddenly skyrocketed 19,000% over its initial value-an unprecedented price surge, according to Sunday tracking of the cryptocurrency.
On Saturday, President-elect Trump introduced a token on both Truth Social and X, posting, "It's time for my Trump community to start using this new token.
Pipped to be a meme coin-a digital currency normally considered to be lacking intrinsic real-world utility, the digital currency began trading at $0.1824 on Saturday and blew out to $36.6 at 06:00 GMT on Sunday, with its fully diluted market capitalization coming in at an estimated $36 billion, said Dexscreener. Volume reportedly stood above $14 billion.
On the website of the cryptocurrency's project, it says that 80% of the supply of the coin is held by CIC Digital LLC-a company owned by Trump-with 200 million tokens currently in circulation but up to 1 billion over a three-year period.
Eric Trump celebrated the rapid success of the coin as "the hottest digital meme on earth" in a post on X while stating pride in their crypto space achievements.
While there was much fanfare, the timing of Trump's cryptocurrency launch has raised eyebrows among ethics watchdogs.
Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, remarked, “It’s unprecedented. Traditionally, presidents-elect focus on distancing themselves from financial interests to avoid conflicts of interest. In stark contrast, we’re seeing a president-elect introduce new ventures and suggest deregulating those industries, seemingly to benefit financially during his presidency.”
The introduction of this meme coin has thrown up apprehensions about its influence on the crypto policies of Trump's incoming administration. Reports have it that crypto firms have already contributed over $10 million to Trump's inaugural fund, with several industry executives expected to attend his inauguration on Monday.