Donald Trump’s latest foray into the world of cryptocurrencies has caused a sensation: his newly launched digital currency, $TRUMP, reached a market value of $9 billion on Monday. This huge success came just hours before Trump’s scheduled return to the White House as president-elect.
The $TRUMP coin, which is called a “meme coin,” saw its value soar 73% during early trading in Asia on Monday, reaching $46.06 per token. According to CoinMarketCap, the coin’s trading volume in the last 24 hours reached an incredible $42.2 billion. Trump introduced this cryptocurrency on Friday and branded it with an image linked to an incident from July. This launch builds on its existing projects in digital finance, which already include World Liberty Financial.
Many in the crypto community were caught off guard by the sudden launch.
“This is not just another Trump publicity stunt. The launch of this token raises serious questions about ethics and regulations in the world of cryptocurrencies,” said Justin D’Anethan, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency analyst. He noted that $TRUMP conflates decentralized finance with politics, raising concerns about overlapping governance, profits and influence.
“Can public figures with significant political power also dominate speculative markets? That’s a question regulators will likely address,” D’Anethan added.
Economist Peter Schiff called $TRUMP the “new digital gold” in a post on social platform X, acknowledging its impressive rise in value.
Trump has pledged to promote cryptocurrencies as part of his presidency and is expected to introduce policies that make cryptocurrency regulations less restrictive. This could pave the way for broader use and acceptance of digital assets.
The possibility of reduced regulations has created excitement within the cryptocurrency world. Since Trump’s election victory in November, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have seen momentum. On Monday, Bitcoin traded 2.6% lower at $101,826.51, but is still up more than 10% on the month.
Trump is scheduled to officially take office at noon ET (1700 GMT) on Monday. His followers and cryptocurrency enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting his next moves in both the political and financial spheres.
Also read: Trump administration will make cryptocurrencies a national priority with clear regulations and industry support