President Trump, who has vowed to turn the U.S. into the cryptocurrency capital of the world, got a head start on those plans by debuting new his-and-her meme coins — the $Trump and $Melania coins — over the weekend. As of Monday afternoon, the day of Mr. Trump’s inauguration, the two digital currencies were worth a combined $9.5 billion.
Meme coins, which have no economic or transactional value, are cryptocurrencies linked to internet trends, such as Dogecoin, which was inspired by the image of a shiba inu dog. Dogecoin became a favored cryptocurrency of billionaire Elon Musk, who even named his federal cost-cutting group, the Department of Government Efficiency, after it.
Mr. Trump announced his cryptocurrency on Friday night, writing on social media that the coin celebrates “everything we stand for: WINNING!” The meme coin is being marketed with a picture of Trump holding a fist up superimposed over the words “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT,” a reference to Trump’s response to an assassination attempt at a political rally in July.
On Sunday, Melania Trump announced her own meme coin with a black-and-white photo of the First Lady smiling and with her hands clasped in front of her face, as if in thanks.
The new meme coins are a way for Mr. Trump to leverage his online popularity, drawing his supporters to the project, noted Joe McCann, CEO of digital assets investment firm Asymmetric. The products, like Mr. Trump’s social media company, tend to attract individual investors, rather than large U.S. institutional firms, who buy shares as a way to show support for the president.
“Meme coins largely represent communities on the internet represented by a financial asset — they’re the tokenization of internet culture,” McCann told CBS MoneyWatch. “Donald Trump is arguably the most popular person on the internet, so by launching a meme coin, members of his community can further gain proximity to him.”
Mr. Trump has sought to monetize his name with numerous commercial ventures, ranging from a licensing deal for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, that earned him $7.2 million, to a $59.99 Bible that earned him $300,000 in royalties. He’s also recently rolled out Trump-branded sneakers, a “Fight, Fight, Fight”-branded perfume and watches.
Here’s what to know about the Trump coins.
How much are the Donald and Melania Trump meme coins worth?
As of Monday afternoon, the Trump meme coin had a market cap of $8.3 billion, while Melania Trump’s cryptocurrency was valued at $1.2 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Mr. Trump’s meme coin soared after it debuted, hitting a peak of almost $75 each. But the price has shed about 45% of its value since then, settling at about $40 per coin on Monday afternoon. Still, that represents a surge of more than 400% from its initial price, CoinMarketCap data shows.
Melania Trump’s meme coin has had a slightly rockier debut, sinking more than 20% to about $5.40 per coin on Monday.
Are $Trump and $Melania real…
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