Trump Issues Meme Coin Before Inauguration... Surpasses 13 Trillion Won Market Cap in a Day
Summary
- It was reported that the meme coin $TRUMP launched by President-elect Donald Trump surpassed 13 trillion won in market capitalization, ranking 19th.
- The price of this coin surged from a few cents at launch to 18,000%, reaching $45.91.
- There are concerns about conflicts of interest as the Trump Group holds 80% of $TRUMP.
Concerns Over 80% Ownership by Trump Group
Donald Trump, the U.S. President-elect, has launched his own meme coin '$TRUMP' ahead of his inauguration. This coin reached the 19th position in cryptocurrency market capitalization within two days of its release.
President-elect Trump announced the launch of the meme coin $TRUMP via social media on the 17th. Meme coins are speculative cryptocurrencies created based on parodies or jokes without intrinsic utility. Eric Trump, his second son, promoted the coin as "the hottest digital meme in the world" through an online post the next day, and Trump's X (formerly Twitter) account retweeted it. The official promotional website for $TRUMP states it as "the only official Trump meme." The Trump transition team has not made any separate statements regarding this.
According to the cryptocurrency information site CoinMarketCap, as of 2:32 AM on the 19th, the price of the $TRUMP coin rose by 230% from 24 hours ago to $45.91. Its market capitalization reached $9.18 billion (approximately 13.4 trillion won), ranking 19th among all cryptocurrencies. U.S. media outlet Fox Business reported that the $TRUMP coin, which was only a few cents at launch, had already recorded an 18,000% increase when it rose to $33.87.
The sharp rise in the price of the $TRUMP coin has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as significant profits may accrue to the Trump Group. According to the coin's website, 80% of the total coins are held by two entities: FightFightFight, a Trump Group affiliate where Eric Trump serves as Executive Vice President, and CIC Digital.
Reporter Da-yeon Lim allopen@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
![[Exclusive] Fashion Group Hyungji joins hands with Arbitrum…to roll out stablecoin payments and adopt DeFi](https://media.bloomingbit.io/PROD/news/a01665b7-8718-403a-8248-aad0d3ef0727.webp?w=250)
![Despite Trump’s pledge to ‘cut’… “U.S. debt ratio set to hit post-WWII high” [Lee Sang-eun’s Washington Now]](https://media.bloomingbit.io/PROD/news/8c7809d5-0bc5-4094-8563-4dbd8393af0f.webp?w=250)