Donald Trump's memecoin: profits for a few, hundreds of thousands in the red
Donald Trump caused a stir with his own cryptocurrency before he took office. Now a blockchain analysis shows how many people benefited from it.
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The first cryptocurrency of a US president has brought huge profits, especially for those who bought early and sold quickly. This was the result of an analysis commissioned by the New York Times, according to which the profits paid out three weeks after the launch of $TRUMP amounted to 6.6 billion US dollars. This contrasts with over 810,000 wallets whose realized or unrealized losses amount to 2.2 billion US dollars. However, many of the memecoins purchased are still being held, probably in the hope of later losses, which is why this figure is at most an interim figure. The data was determined for the US newspaper using blockchain analyses.
"The lucky 31"
Donald Trump launched his own cryptocurrency shortly before taking office at the end of January. Within hours, the value of a crypto coin rose to over 70 US dollars, before initially falling rapidly and then more steadily. Those who bought early and sold at the right time were able to make huge profits. According to the New York Times, 31 accounts managed to do this, making a combined profit of 669 million US dollars. One even made a good 110 million US dollars from 1.1 million US dollars. The analysis also revealed that one of these accounts was set up just three hours before the cryptocurrency was launched, nine hours after the memecoin was created. Even at the launch, there were indications of insider trading with purchases worth millions at a knockdown price.
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The increase in value of the $TRUMP coin only came to an end days after its launch when Trump's wife Melania introduced her own cryptocurrency. $MELANIA and an initial sell-off put an end to the soaring price, with both subsequently plummeting. Today, $TRUMP stands at around 16 US dollars and $MELANIA at 1.50 US dollars. Anyone who bought the latter coin at the top and is still holding it has lost around 90 percent of its value. Both cryptocurrencies are reminiscent of countless memecoins and crypto scams, which rise sharply in value after the launch and make early investors a lot of money until the masses get in and are left with the losses.
Even if the approach with cryptocurrencies is reminiscent of the usual crypto scams, there is so far no evidence that the US president's family has enriched itself in this way. The New York Times' analysis was not able to go any deeper into insider trading. Officially, the family has no access to the crypto-coins assigned to them until April; they are excluded from trading behind a barrier until April. The Trump family did not wish to comment on the New York Times report.
(mho)
