President-elect’s $Trump coin more than halved in value before steadily recovering on Sunday
Summary
Donald Trump’s meme cryptocurrency, $Trump, surged to a $14 billion market cap after launch but fell by over 50% after Melania Trump introduced her own token, $Melania, diverting investor interest.
$Trump partially recovered to $64 while $Melania reached a $13 billion valuation.
The tokens, marketed by Trump-controlled companies, sparked debate over their speculative nature, market volatility, and potential conflicts of interest.
Trump’s pro-crypto stance and promised deregulation have boosted digital currencies, though critics question the ethics of profiting from political office.
I bought the first solid state drive I ever owned with about .7 BTC I mined on my GPU years ago, well before it blew up and when there was still a hope of it being a legitimate alternative currency. Now it’s just gambling.
Part of me thinks some of these people know what they are doing. But they've heard people say Trump isn't a billionaire that rather than admit they are wrong about him and hes actually a terrible business man, they can just make him into a billionaire and save face.
I have a feeling it’s no different than supporting televangelists. People trying to vicariously buy their fake jesus a victory, and buy their way to heaven by doing so.
I was curious what the official supposed purpose of these tokens was, since i have a hard time believing anyone would seriously see themselves buying anything with these at any point. The official website is hilarious. They're not claiming any purpose at all, you're just buying an "official meme":
Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol "$TRUMP" and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type. GetTrumpMemes.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency. See Terms & Conditions Here, See Card Allocation Here
I hope it is not only those on Lemmy that see this man this way. I can't see him either without seeing all those preceeding qualifiers. Those who omit them seem woefully ignorant. Not saying that they have to say the mouthful each time when mentioning the guy, but it's refreshing to see it when others do!
It's hilariously corrupt and outright sad, but mostly just frustrating. I don't have any sympathy for those who put money in to such obvious obvious bootlicking scam. Yet at least from Trumps perspective it's gonna work, it's guaranteed free money with no risk or consequences.
Far more concerning is the fact that anybody (or country, company, etc) on the planet with enough money can now directly bribe the us president through crypto
I have a bit of bitcoin FOMO. Whether these coins crash in a week, or a year, BTC is probably going to keep hitting all time highs, due to the fact that it's the major on-ramp to a lot of meme coins.
He's going to pressure rich people to invest in his scam coin using his presidential powerers to actually keep it afloat.
Right wingers have consistently railed against politicians who make money while in office. While I completely agree that making decisions that directly or indirectly affect politicians business or other investments is unethical I know the right wing echo chamber will declare this a good thing for America. I already see political commentators and others with a voice using caution out of fear of Trump retaliation. They all but call him dear leader. I won't be surprised if Trump is the richest person in the world by the end of his term. That is, if there is an end.
I worked in a place during the 2016 election with a lot of old-school Conservatives who hadn't fully drunk the MAGA kool-aid yet, but did loathe Hillary with a passion. I vividly remember one of them explaining all of the meticulous research he claimed he did to go through the financial records Hillary released that prove that she was making all sorts of crooked money through speaking fees. When I pointed out that we didn't even know where all Trump's money came from because he didn't release his taxes, he replied "That's OK, I trust him".
It will always be "rules for thee, not for me" with these folks. When the opposition looks like it is making any money at all it immediately looks suspect, but when their side does it it's just capitalism.
The crypto will be how the bribe money is funnelled. Just like all the tech bros going to "service the Donvict" at Mara Lago and then paying their fee for the inauguration, that's just so he doesn't go after them.
He isn't going to pressure anyone. This is a path to legal bribery. The blockchain can be used to verify which wallets bought coins and if you decide to prove to Team Trump that you have invested millions in his wealth you will have influence. This is especially important for foreign donations.
Bad? Trump's coin went to $75 for a total value of $14 billion, of which he owns 80%. Melania's release dropped Trump's by 50%, so down to only $7 billion... Only $7 billion... briefly. The article states that his coin recovered to $64 or, I'm estimating here, around $12 billion total value. Her coin topped at $13 billion total value which, again, he owns 80% of through his companies. That means off these two scams, he raked in 80% of $25 billion dollars. That's around $20 billions dollars in value.