We don’t usually write about memecoins because they don’t have a business application or impact. With President Trump issuing the $TRUMP memecoin followed by his wife’s $MELANIA coin, that changes things. As of writing, the market capitalization of the $TRUMP token is around $8.4 billion and $MELANIA around $1.1 billion, with both claiming to retain 80% of the token which will be circulated over the coming three years.
Is it good for crypto?
With the Trump coin issuance, the President has broadcast the message that the United States is open for almost any crypto business, while also multiplying his own wealth many times over, if one treats the issuing company as indirectly owned by him.
In the short term, the tokens have and will attract huge numbers of new users into crypto, which many will view as a good thing, especially crypto exchanges. But some of the more serious crypto folk have strong misgivings.
Trump was reported to be worth around $7 billion before the coin issuance. Adding another $34 billion ($8.4bn x 4) to his net worth over the weekend might be enough to make an impression on him. So if he was crypto friendly before, he is likely to be way more supportive now. That’s provided there isn’t too much of a backlash following the initial speculative frenzy and the price remains high enough.
After all, there has been a backlash against non fungible tokens (NFTs) following the hype, even though they provide tangible benefits and are a genuine use case for brands, sports and games. Today most brand issuers refer to NFTs as digital collectibles to avoid the association.
