Donald Trump became the President of the United States but remained a businessman. And this is a problem that the crypto industry has already experienced
21 January 2025 08:49
US President Donald Trump and his family used the last days before his inauguration to launch a new cryptocurrency product. This is unpleasant news for the crypto industry. Why? Politico wrote about it, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
It happened on January 17. Donald Trump launched his own meme coin, $TRUMP. He wrote on the X network: “My NEW official memecoin is HERE! Time to celebrate everything we stand for: VICTORY! Join my very special Trump community. BUY $TRUMP NOW”. The launch of the coin raised a wave of enthusiasm among buyers, and $TRUMP quickly became the fastest growing asset. But not everyone liked this development.
What worried experts
According to Politico, Trump’s decision on Friday to unveil a so-called memecoin, a crypto token with no real value that traders can invest in, has raised concerns among investors and industry representatives in Washington. They do not exclude that the new coin could become a weapon for critics who accuse cryptocurrency traders of fraud and risky transactions for consumers.
“It is absolutely absurd that he did this. They’re opening up new depths of idiocy with the launch of memecoin,” says Nick Carter, a founding partner at crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, who describes himself as an “outspoken and explicit” Trump supporter.
As the publication explains, memecoins are a class of cryptocurrencies, sometimes called “shitcoins,” that includes digital assets with names like Dogecoin and Fartcoin. They are speculative assets that are inherently volatile. If investors lose money on the coin, it could be a problem for both Trump and the cryptocurrency sector.
The new product, according to Politico, is also a clear signal that Trump and his family are ready to take advantage of new business opportunities while he is in office, in an area that could directly benefit from friendly policies adopted by his own administration or the GOP-controlled Congress.
Before his first term, Trump promised that there would be “no new deals” during his tenure. Now, his eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are founding their own crypto company, World Liberty Financial, which raised similar concerns among cryptocurrency supporters during the campaign. According to the website, the company owned by Trump owns 80 percent of the total supply of memecoins.
“This is terrible,” said one Washington lobbyist, who was allowed to remain anonymous to speak candidly about the sensitive dynamics in the sector. – “It’s a terrible look for an industry that is already trying to prove that we are not a bunch of hucksters and scammers.”
The coin has already become a target for Democrats. Their representative Sean Casten, a cryptocurrency critic on the House Financial Services Committee, said that Trump “continues to make it clear that he will not allow his supporters to be harmed, nor will he allow ethical standards to stand in the way of his enrichment.”
Nevertheless, even those who are concerned about Trump’s new coin do not expect it to significantly hinder the political successes that the US crypto sector is set to achieve. Trump has released other crypto products in the past, and this has not affected the persistent desire of Republicans on Capitol Hill to push for regulatory changes that could accelerate the growth of the crypto industry.
