Trump memecoin decried as ‘radioactive’ even as it multiplied 11 times in value

When Donald Trump launched his official memecoin on Friday, it wasn’t just the token’s price that swelled.

As the value of TRUMP multiplied more than 11 times in value in less than 24 hours, a wave of critical voices from within the crypto industry crashed down on the venture.

Pundits called it “bad for the industry,” “radioactive,” and a “grift.”

Others had choicer words for the incoming president’s latest venture.

“This obviously gives a clear green light that any crime and attention-grabbing schema is now legal,” Ivan, a pseudonymous co-founder of GearBox Protocol and admin of DeFi research group Lobster DAO, told DL News.

“Fake promises, shilling, market manipulation — everything we have been eradicating — now gets promoted tenfold more than it used to be. Expect more fake celebrity coins, retail scams, fake promises.”

‘Special Trump Community’

Anthony Scaramucci, the Wall Street money manager and crypto investor, was equally withering.

“The Trump memecoin stuff is bad for the industry,” he said on X. “Don’t delude yourself. It’s Idi Amin level corruption.”

But the 78-year-old billionaire, who became the first former president to be convicted of felony-level crimes in June, embraced his latest venture with customary zeal.

“Trump Meme is HERE!” Trump posted on X on Friday. “It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community.”

Representatives from the Trump transition team and CIC Digital, the company behind many of Trump’s crypto ventures, including the memecoin, did not immediately respond to DL News’ request for comment.

It isn’t the first time DeFi supporters have expressed frustration with Trump’s forays into crypto.

When he launched World Liberty Financial in August 2024, a DeFi project that draws code from lending protocol Aave, insiders bristled at its appearance of self-dealing.

“Pro-Trump crypto people are nervous about WLF because they worry, with some justification, that Trump is only out to make money,” Alex Tapscott, a Managing Director of Ninepoint Partners’ Digital Asset Group, told DL News at the time.

Audacious promises

During his presidential campaign, Trump made audacious promises to the crypto industry. He pledged to build a multi-billion dollar strategic Bitcoin reserve, end regulators’ crypto crackdown, and mine all the remaining Bitcoin in the US.

To that end, Trump is expected to surround himself with pro-crypto officials such as Howard Lutnick, a key backer of stablecoin issuer Tether, his nominee to head the Department of Commerce.

Yet jumping into the memecoin market himself is not only unprecedented for a US president — it’s also a powerful endorsement for an asset many crypto natives are not comfortable with at all.

“Anyone who understands our space knows that memecoins are pretty much a vehicle for gambling and that celebrity memecoins are frowned upon and viewed as a grift,” Cameron Chisholm, frontend developer for TikTok-like crypto investment platform, told DL News.

“Launching a celebrity memecoin for yourself is nothing more than a cash grab.”

‘I’m sure most of the ‘non-crypto’ will keep thinking that crypto is just gambling.’

Maxime Reynaud, The Sandbox

Launched on the Solana blockchain like scores of other memecoins, the TRUMP coin has no utility or inherent value beyond its association with the incoming president.

Like many memecoins, the offering soared to a staggering valuation — $14.5 billion on Sunday— before tumbling 14%, according to CoinGecko.

Yet the coin’s lack of intrinsic value isn’t the only issue. Chisholm pointed to concerns about the concentration of TRUMP tokens in the hands of insiders.

I’m not sure people quite grasp how much of the crypto world is reacting to the Trump memecoin launches. pic.twitter.com/22NHP6UHZE

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) January 20, 2025

Trump NFTs

The coin’s issuer, CIC Digital holds more than 80% of the TRUMP tokens, according to the company’s website.

At the same time, the Trump team sold non-fungible tokens of Trump dressed up as a cowboy and an astronaut, among other characters, in December 2022.

His wife, Melania Trump, sold NFTs of jewellery and paintings in April 2024.

On Sunday, she also rolled out her very own MELANIA memecoin.

“Do we want this kind of attention? We’ll see in the coming days,” Maxime Reynaud, strategy lead at crypto gaming firm The Sandbox, told DL News.

“I’m sure most of the ‘non-crypto’ will keep thinking that crypto is just gambling.”

Liam Kelly is a Berlin-based reporter for DL News. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected].