President-elect Donald Trump has launched a new cryptocurrency token that is soaring in value - and potentially boosting his net worth - just before his inauguration. It's the latest norm-defying promotion by Trump, who has also helped sell branded bibles, gold sneakers and diamond-encrusted watches.
"It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community," Trump said in a social post late Friday promoting the new tokens. They are 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.
In promoting the meme coin, Trump told supporters to "Have Fun!" The website selling the tokens says they are meant as expressions of support and not an investment opportunity.
That hasn't stopped people from trying to make money. The Trump meme coins started selling for $10 each before soaring to as high as about $70 as of Sunday morning.
Memo coins are a strange and highly volatile corner of the crypto industry that often start as a joke with no real value but can surge in price if enough people are willing to buy them. Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency whose mascot is a super-cute dog that muses things like "much wow," is perhaps the most well known. Meme coins can be used by scammers looking to make a quick fortune at the expense of unwary investors.
Some crypto enthusiasts hailed the Trump meme coin's release, saying it's symbolic of the incoming president's support for an industry that felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration. Trump has promised to usher in crypto-friendly regulations and picked crypto cheerleaders for key government positions.
Critics said the Trump meme coin could be a dangerous way for special interests and foreign governments to try and buy influence with the president.
"Now anyone in world can essentially deposit money into bank account of President of USA with a couple clicks," Anthony Scaramucci, a former Trump White House communications director, said on X.
The sale of Trump meme coin was organized by CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization. The coin's website said 200 million Trump meme coins are currently available, with plans to issue 1 billion over the next three years. CIC Digital and another company collectively own 80% of the Trump meme coins and will receive "trading revenue derived from trading activities," according to the token's website.
The Trump family business recently released an ethics agreement that prohibits Trump from "day-to-day" decision making at the Trump Organization when he's president and limits financial information about the business shared with him.
Trump and his family previously helped launch a new venture to trade cryptocurrencies last year. The president-elect has also dabbled in NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, and last year reported earning between $100,000 and $1 million from a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images, including as an astronaut, a cowboy and a superhero.
Trump's social media company, Truth Social, has also defied traditional notions of value. Despite struggling to raise revenue, the company is currently valued at more than $8 billion as Trump's supporters help boost the stock price and his net worth along with it.
