Trump’s crypto meme coin draws billions in trading volume, as bitcoin dips

Major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance say they intend to list Trump’s token on their platform, while Melania also unveiled a coin

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US president-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania visit the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Sunday. Photo: AP Photo

Published: 9:58am, 20 Jan 2025

A digital token debuted by US president-elect Donald Trump has rattled the cryptocurrency market, attracting billions of dollars of trading volume while stoking concerns about conflicts of interest.

Trading under the “Trump” ticker on the Solana blockchain, the token’s market value surged to US$15 billion over the weekend, data from CoinMarketCap showed, after the Republican touted it on his social media accounts on Friday.

The digital asset’s market capitalisation then slid below US$10 billion on Sunday in New York after Trump’s wife Melania also unveiled a coin, drawing traders who seek to capitalise on rapidly shifting speculative demand for memes.

Meanwhile, the wider crypto market struggled over the weekend, including a dip in the largest token, bitcoin, and a shaper retreat for second-ranked ether. SOL, the crypto asset associated with the Solana digital ledger hosting the Trump meme coins, bucked the trend and posted a rally.

The “size of the capital flowing” to the Trump token left most other coins trading “poorly” except for SOL and some related assets, said Sydney-based Richard Galvin, co-founder of hedge fund DACM.

The website for the president-elect’s token described it as the “the only official Trump meme”. The project’s art features an illustration of the incoming US president with his fist in the air – a reference to his response in the aftermath of an attempt on his life during a campaign rally last year.