Is the coin real?
That was the question plaguing crypto traders in the US and Asia alike, as an “official” memecoin linked to Republican Donald Trump was issued in the early hours of Saturday in Asia from his X accounts and Truth Social verified.
Prices rose from pennies to $14 in less than six hours amid widespread confusion over whether the token was actually backed by Trump or a possible hack of Trump’s account with a fake token issued by attacker to scam unsuspecting buyers.
🚨JUST IN: One trader is up $29.8 million on $ASSETDonald Trump’s official memecoin on Solana. He spent $1.09 million to purchase 5,971,750 TRUMP coins, now worth $30.8 million in less than 2 hours, a gain of 2,634%. The merchant has not yet sold any coins. pic.twitter.com/HS56HoA85X
– SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) January 18, 2025
CoinDesk could not independently confirm whether or not the token was legitimate as of early European hours on Saturday.
The token – which is viewed with skepticism by some traders – attracted $3 billion in trading volume within hours of going live and represents a market cap of $2 billion at current prices. It earned first-time buyers more than $70 million in paper winnings and small traders up to $1 million, according to on-chain data.
The apparent move comes days before Trump takes office on January 20, and is the first time a sitting president has valued a memecoin. It’s the latest in a long list of crypto-related companies and products linked to Trump – with the Republican having already released several NFTs and the relatively new decentralized finance platform World Liberty Financial.
“My NEW official Trump meme is HERE!” It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! “, we read in an X message from the @realDonaldTrump account. “Join my very special Trump community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to – Have fun!
Message X was posted at 2:44 UTC on Saturday and remained active until 8:15 UTC. It was initially perceived to be
The token was first published on Trump’s Truth Social, where it went from a fully diluted valuation of $200 million to over $1.3 billion in just over an hour. It gained traction and interest among crypto traders after the X post.
A disclaimer on the meme’s website stated that the Trump meme token was intended to function as an “expression of support and commitment to the ideals and beliefs embodied in the $TRUMP symbol” and was not “intended to be , or to be”. the subject of an investment opportunity, an investment contract or a security of any type.
The reasoning is consistent with how memecoin markets have evolved since late 2024, moving from simple image-linked tokens (like dogecoin) to cult tokens where holders believe in a shared vision or idea that the brand implies (like SPX6900 flip). the American stock market, or MOG representing “token gain”.)
Meanwhile, some previously issued Trump-themed memecoins took a hit early Saturday, falling as much as 50% as their value proposition fell.
