Is Trump launching a crypto token? Industry scrutinizes ‘Trump Coin’

Does Donald Trump want to further ingratiate himself with the $2.5 trillion crypto industry with the launch of a new cryptocurrency called “Trump Coin”?

According to crypto industry participants, these rumors come as Trump ramps up his campaign for the November presidential election. Industry experts are trying to find the origin of the so-called meme token, which is registered on the Solana blockchain platform under the symbol “DJT” and the name “Trump Coin”.

DJT is, of course, the stock symbol for Donald Trump’s social media platform called Truth Social. The stock has been a favorite among meme stocks since it went public in March, with DJT’s shares rising as high as $79.38. The stock is currently trading around $35.

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Like meme stocks, meme tokens are inspired by external factors such as internet trends and pop culture references. While some of the most famous meme coins, such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, were actually created as a joke, their popularity and cult-like following has accelerated the total meme coin market value to a staggering $50 billion.

Trump Coin will launch on the Solana blockchain, joining the ranks of other popular Solana-based meme coin projects such as “Dogwifhat,” a token associated with the meme of a dog wearing a pink knit hat; “Jeo Boden,” a satirical cartoon of President Biden; and “Mother Iggy,” a meme coin launched last month by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.

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The token began trading on Solana this evening and its market cap currently stands at $73 million, according to blockchain researcher SolScan.

FOX Business could not confirm whether the token is directly or indirectly linked to Trump, but industry insiders say people tied to the former president have been planning to launch a digital currency for at least two months.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Truth Social also did not respond to calls for comment.

When asked for comment on the Trump Coin launch, former GOP presidential candidate and President Trump advisor Vivek Ramaswamy referred FOX Business to the Trump campaign but said: “I’m glad President Trump and his campaign are leaning into crypto, including acknowledging that — embracing crypto is Trump’s libertarians and It will help him continue to recruit your atypical Republicans — it’s a winning issue.”

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Trump Coin is the latest in a handful of meme coins inspired by political candidates this election season. Other unaffiliated Trump meme tokens are traded in the crypto world, including a token trading under the symbol MAGA, a caricature of Trump and the slogan “Make America Great Again” with an American flag in the background.

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The “MAGA” coin, operating under the ticker TRUMP, is currently the most popular political meme coin, trading at just over $9 with a market cap of over $400 million. The price of the token dropped on the news that Trump Coin would be launched.

Another Trump-inspired meme coin trades under the letters TROG; It accompanies a cartoon of a frog wearing a MAGA hat. The market value of this cryptocurrency, which is much smaller compared to MAGA, is $ 7.38 million, and it also dropped with the news of the Trump Coin launch.

Neither MAGA nor TROG has any direct connection to Trump, his various business ventures, or his 2024 presidential campaign. However, according to blockchain research firm Arkham Intelligence, the former president owns a significant number of MAGA and TROG tokens gifted to him by the token creator. Trump himself is not much of a cryptocurrency bro, but he has tapped into the industry as a potential source of voters as the November election approaches.

Nearly 52 million Americans have used cryptocurrency, according to Coinbase research, and they are becoming increasingly politically active as they seek to elect crypto-friendly politicians to congressional positions. One such candidate is crypto lawyer John Deaton, who is currently running as a Republican to unseat Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is distinctly anti-crypto.

Trump is worth an estimated $6 billion, but according to Arkham Intelligence, he currently has a crypto portfolio worth approximately $6 million, which he has amassed from a variety of sources, including his own NFT collection and holdings in MAGA coin and TROG coin.

Some analysts say crypto votes could be crucial in the upcoming presidential election. Most industry participants who spoke to FOX Business consider themselves single-issue voters; This means that they will vote solely for the candidate they think is the most crypto-friendly, regardless of their other political views. Trump is targeting these voters with the help of some of his advisors, including Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and crypto enthusiast who has advised Trump on digital asset policy.

Original article source: Is Trump launching a crypto token? The industry puts ‘Trump Coin’ under the spotlight