$TRUMP

“Very likely there would be a slump afterwards,” says crypto analyst Noelle Acheson, formerly of crypto brokerage Genesis.

Even as the price of TRUMP rose after the announcement, sophisticated crypto investors with a track record of profitability—so-called smart money traders—sold their stakes in the coin, according to Nansen. “Smart money isn’t interested in the TRUMP token, I can tell you that,” says Nicolai Søndergaard, research analyst at Nansen.

When Trump first announced his memecoin, days before the inauguration, critics accused the incoming president of embarking on a money-grab at the expense of his regular supporters. Others worried that the coin could act as a vector for bribery; by investing large sums into the coin, driving up its price, politically motivated actors could in theory curry favor with the president surreptitiously.