The launch of Trump’s meme coin (immediately followed by that of his wife, supported by all their children) has, of course, gained wide resonance: a corollary to support the inauguration event, which – as expected – received evident media overexposure.
Instead of expressing an opinion, we prefer to present two numbers and provide some useful information to help form opinions.
$TRUMP was launched on the evening of Friday, January 17, 2025, and within a few hours (by Sunday afternoon), it surged from $7 to approximately $75, becoming the highest-capitalized meme coin (see chart). It then halved in value after the launch of $MELANIA, officially presented as an “expression of support and commitment to the values embodied by the MELANIA symbol.”
Who owns $TRUMP? 80% is held by CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, both linked to the Trump family, and will be gradually released to the market over three years.
The history of meme coins dates back to 2013 with Dogecoin, a fork of Litecoin created by two software engineers—one from IBM and the other from Adobe—who aimed to satirize the rampant speculation already plaguing existing cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin was not alone; there were also Litecoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Primecoin, Freicoin, etc.). Their idea was to show that a currency represented by a dog could not be taken seriously and that a payment system based on such technology could hardly be the revolution promised by Satoshi Nakamoto’s manifesto. In 2015, one of Dogecoin’s founders exited the cryptocurrency industry entirely, believing that, far from promoting financial freedom, cryptocurrencies were primarily a means for founders to amass wealth. The other creator largely shared this viewpoint.
Despite the inherent inefficiency of PoW scrypt (inherited from Litecoin, of course), Dogecoin has experienced waves of euphoria (and equally deep crashes) over the years—often triggered by simple tweets from the world’s most influential figure: Musk. We are not referring to Tesla’s announcement of accepting Dogecoin as a payment method but rather to posts such as the “Dog Barking at the Moon” by Joan Miró or Musk’s mock appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE, for short)—both of which caused double-digit price swings within hours. Although lawsuits were filed against Musk for insider trading, he was cleared of these charges, as digital currencies are not classified as securities.
In these hours, some have likely made stellar profits with $TRUMP or $MELANIA, while others have suffered heavy losses. However, if presidential meme coins remain supported over the next three years, as Dogecoin was, we certainly know who will profit.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal opinion of the contributors from Custodia Wealth Management who authored it. It does not constitute investment advice, personalized consulting, or an invitation to engage in financial transactions.
