Close Menu
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

What's On

Chrome OS Will Merge With Android and Sony Surprises With a New Camera

19 July 2025

At Least 750 US Hospitals Faced Disruptions During Last Year’s CrowdStrike Outage, Study Finds

19 July 2025

Security News This Week: China’s Salt Typhoon Hackers Breached the US National Guard for Nearly a Year

19 July 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Just In
  • Chrome OS Will Merge With Android and Sony Surprises With a New Camera
  • At Least 750 US Hospitals Faced Disruptions During Last Year’s CrowdStrike Outage, Study Finds
  • Security News This Week: China’s Salt Typhoon Hackers Breached the US National Guard for Nearly a Year
  • Why It’s Taking LA So Long to Rebuild After the Wildfires
  • How to Get the Most Out of (or Into) Your Robot Vacuum
  • Review: Coway Airmega 50
  • How to Delete All of Your Social Media Accounts
  • The EVs We’ve Lost
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release
Subscribe
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
Home » The Trump Memecoin’s ‘Money-Grab’ Economics
News

The Trump Memecoin’s ‘Money-Grab’ Economics

News RoomBy News Room20 January 20254 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Telegram Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

In this sense, claims Jacob Silverman, coauthor of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, the TRUMP coin setup seems to bear some of the hallmarks of a “classic memecoin pump-and-dump”—a manoeuvre whereby an issuer keeps hold of large amounts of their coin, promotes the project, then cashes in their holdings, devaluing the coin and dealing huge losses to other investors.“When you have an insider distribution of 80 percent, the risk that it is going to be dumped on the public or that there will be some kind of major sell-off is just massive. It’s a huge red flag,” alleges Silverman. “Unfortunately, some poor saps are going to get soaked.” (Pump-and-dumps occupy something of a legal grey area, legal experts say, but are roundly condemned as ethically dubious.)

Melania Trump’s decision to release her own memecoin appears to have already dealt a blow to TRUMP investors, even absent any alleged potential pump-and-dump. After the MELANIA coin went live, the TRUMP token fell in price by 50 percent.

The litany of unofficial Trump-inspired memecoins—among them MAGA, MAGA Hat, Doland Tremp and Super Trump—have tumbled in value, too. During the 2024 election cycle, political memecoins were used as a proxy for betting on the outcome of the election and expressing support for a particular candidate, rising and falling with events on the campaign trail. But the launch of TRUMP has inadvertently decimated inventors who bought unofficial coins as a mark of their support for Trump.

“I do not think this is appropriate for the president of the United States,” says Steven Steele, marketing director for the MAGA token, in a video posted to X. “This just seems like an egregious money-grab.”

Perhaps more dangerous than financial losses brought upon supporters, the Trump memecoin could also act as a new vector for bribery, claims Silverman. By investing large sums into a cryptocurrency in which Trump has a large financial interest, thereby driving up its price, politically-motivated actors could curry favor with the president without any sort of direct transaction taking place, he alleges. “These are kinds of channels for influence and leverage of a kind we haven’t really seen before,” claims Silverman.

The release of an official Trump memecoin marks the latest development in the president’s ongoing flirtation with crypto. Though in his first term Trump rejected bitcoin as a “scam,” he performed a complete volte-face in the leadup to the 2024 presidential election. As crypto industry figureheads endorsed his presidency and threw hundreds of millions of dollars in donations at pro-crypto super political action committees, Trump began to pitch himself as the “crypto president.”

In July, speaking to thousands of bitcoiners at a conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump promised to turn the US into the “crypto capital of the planet” and establish a national “bitcoin stockpile” if reelected. Then in September, the Trump family helped to launch a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, which they pitched as a way to “make finance great again.” (It remains unclear what services World Liberty Financial will provide.)

World Liberty Financial was met with skepticism by some members of the crypto industry, who worried that the project could lead to losses among investors and deal lasting reputational damage should it fail. The same logic applies to the TRUMP memecoin. “If this totally blows up in a lot of people’s faces, it will be super bad, because the media attention will be negative,” says Bendiksen.

Yet for all the potential consequences, there is little to prevent Trump from testing the boundaries of what is acceptable with crypto, says Silverman, as others have done before him. Particularly as he prepares to overhaul the SEC, the financial regulator which most energetically pursued the crypto industry under the previous administration.

“In some ways, he’s just another crypto entrepreneur,” says Silverman. “He just happens to be the president.”

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleThe Duttons will defend the ranch or die trying in 1923 season 2 trailer
Next Article Make Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headband more comfortable with this 3D-printed hack

Related Articles

News

Chrome OS Will Merge With Android and Sony Surprises With a New Camera

19 July 2025
News

At Least 750 US Hospitals Faced Disruptions During Last Year’s CrowdStrike Outage, Study Finds

19 July 2025
News

Security News This Week: China’s Salt Typhoon Hackers Breached the US National Guard for Nearly a Year

19 July 2025
News

Why It’s Taking LA So Long to Rebuild After the Wildfires

19 July 2025
News

How to Get the Most Out of (or Into) Your Robot Vacuum

19 July 2025
News

Review: Coway Airmega 50

19 July 2025
Demo
Top Articles

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024101 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views

Oppo Reno 14, Reno 14 Pro India Launch Timeline and Colourways Leaked

27 May 202582 Views

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Latest News
News

Review: Coway Airmega 50

News Room19 July 2025
News

How to Delete All of Your Social Media Accounts

News Room19 July 2025
News

The EVs We’ve Lost

News Room19 July 2025
Most Popular

The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman

13 January 2025124 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024101 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views
Our Picks

Why It’s Taking LA So Long to Rebuild After the Wildfires

19 July 2025

How to Get the Most Out of (or Into) Your Robot Vacuum

19 July 2025

Review: Coway Airmega 50

19 July 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Best in Technology. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.