President-elect Donald Trump has stirred the crypto world by introducing the Solana-based meme coin, Official Trump (TRUMP). The launch, generating substantial trading activity, has also garnered scrutiny over its legitimacy, token allocation, and security implications.
On January 18, Trump revealed his TRUMP meme coin through his official X and Truth Social accounts. He urged the public to join a celebration of triumph, highlighting the community spirit surrounding this initiative. The coin draws inspiration from his survival of an alleged assassination attempt during his campaign on July 13, 2024.
The promotion material features Trump with a defiant fist and the rallying cry “Fight, Fight, Fight,” symbolizing resilience and perseverance.
The coin’s tokenomics, detailed on its website, disclose a supply of 1 billion tokens to be released over three years. Presently, 200 million are up for trading, with a mere 20% allocated for public liquidity. The remaining 80% is divided among six entities, notably including CIC Digital Groups, managed by Trump’s trust, which earlier oversaw his NFT projects.
The TRUMP token’s debut has sparked both interest and alarm within the cryptocurrency community. Conor Grogan of Coinbase identified a problematic concentration of token ownership. A staggering 80% — valued at $3 billion — is held in a multi-signature wallet controlled by the creator, while over 90% of the available supply resides in the top five wallets. This scenario raises price manipulation concerns.
Blockchain analytics firm SpotOnChain also revealed anomalies. Initial funding came from SOL via Gate.io and Binance, bypassing major US exchanges like Coinbase. This inconsistency has sparked questions about the token's legitimacy and intent.
SpotOnChain notes, “On-chain data shows the token owner is linked to 5e2qRc, funded by DKbF4, with SOL coming from Gate.io and Binance in recent days.” Adding to security worries, the potential for a social media breach seems plausible, yet data from Polymarket places the likelihood of Trump’s accounts being hacked at just 10%.
Adding to the intrigue, Trump’s Truth Social shared unrelated news post-announcement, such as appointing Peggy Schwinn as Deputy Secretary of Education. Further insights by blockchain engineer Cygaar revealed similarities in the technical setup of Trump’s meme coin website with his past NFT projects. This commonality suggests a shared development approach.
Despite the skepticism, TRUMP witnessed remarkable market performance. Dexscreener reports a surge of nearly 3,000%, with trading prices at $13.83 during reporting. This increase propelled its fully diluted valuation to $14.5 billion, attracting millions in trading volume. Notably, exchanges like Bybit and Jupiter are set to list TRUMP, indicating significant interests.
The peculiar circumstances surrounding Donald Trump's latest crypto venture underscore the complexities at the intersection of politics and digital currencies.