Trumps launch their own cryptocurrencies ahead of inauguration, setting off ethical alarms

Melania Trump launched her own cryptocurrency on Sunday on the eve of her husband’s presidential inauguration, just a day after his own coin was launched — moves that are raising ethical concerns among crypto industry observers.

The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now, the incoming first lady wrote on X (new window).

Donald Trump had launched his own meme coin, $TRUMP, on Saturday (new window), branded with imagery of his attempted assassination in July.

The $TRUMP coin soared to nearly $11 billion US in market value on Monday morning, according to (new window) crypto data platform CoinMarketCap, potentially inflating his net worth by billions. $MELANIA, meanwhile, had a market value of $1.7 billion a few hours before the inauguration.

Donald Trump, Melania Trump launch cryptocurrencies ahead of inauguration. Photo: CoinMarketCap (Graeme Bruce/CBC)

Roughly 80 per cent of Trump coin’s tokens are owned by CIC Digital, an affiliate of Trump’s business, and another entity called Fight, Fight, Fight, according to its website. It says the coins are an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol ‘$TRUMP’, and are not an investment or security.

The launch of the coins caused surprise and concern even among those in the cryptocurrency industry, some of whom criticized the Trumps for again (new window) capitalizing on his presidency by launching a lucrative business product from which he and his family stand to profit.

While it’s tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump spectacle, the launch of the official Trump token opens up a Pandora’s box of ethical and regulatory questions, said Justin D’Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.

Should public figures, especially those with such political clout, wield this kind of sway in speculative markets? That’s a question regulators are unlikely to ignore, he said.

Trump an enthusiastic supporter of crypto

Cryptocurrencies are a type of digital money that can be used to pay for things in the online world, and meme coins — often volatile — are a type of crypto usually driven by internet jokes.

Bitcoin, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, surged after Trump’s election victory. It rallied again to a record-high ahead of his inauguration, having jumped more than 10 per cent so far this month.

The incoming president has been an enthusiastic supporter of crypto, signalling on the campaign trail that he would launch a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, and with many working in crypto hopeful that he’ll roll back regulations (new window) of the nascent industry.

Trump appointed venture capitalist David O. Sacks to be the country’s first crypto czar, and became the first presidential candidate to accept crypto as a valid form of donation to his campaign.

Bloomberg reports (new window) that Trump might use an executive order to classify cryptocurrency as a national priority after his inauguration on Monday. He also has strong support from the industry, with crypto companies like Ripple, Robinhood and Coinbase having donated (new window) to his inaugural fund.

But the president-elect hasn’t always been hot on the digital assets: Trump previously called Bitcoin a scam in 2021, lamenting that it was competing with and impacting the value of the U.S. dollar.

This article is republished from RCI.