Trump launches $TRUMP cryptocurrency days before inauguration

• Donald Trump launched a meme coin called $TRUMP days before his inauguration.

• The coin's market cap hit $6 billion at one point, trading at $31 at its peak.

• A network of companies affiliated with the Trump Organization collectively owns 80% of the coin's supply.

President-elect Donald Trump has launched a cryptocurrency meme coin days before his inauguration.

Trump unveiled the $TRUMP coin on X, saying, "it's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!"

A meme coin is a cryptocurrency that usually originates from a specific internet meme or is rooted in a joke. The name of the planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which Trump appointed Elon Musk to co-lead, is a reference to Dogecoin, a meme coin that Musk has backed in the past.

Trump's meme coin is illustrated with an artistic interpretation of Trump pumping his fist in the air, symbolizing his movements after the assassination attempt against him at a rally in July 2024.

The market cap for $TRUMP reached $6 billion on Saturday, according to coinmarketcap.com. At its peak, the coin was trading at about $31, according to CoinGecko.

On Saturday morning, Trump reposted a message from his son, Eric Trump, on X that said $TRUMP is "currently the hottest digital meme on earth" and that he thinks it will be "the future of finance."

"We're just getting started!" Eric Trump wrote.

A network of companies affiliated with the Trump Organization collectively owns 80% of the coin's supply, according to the coin's website. The companies are subject to a three-year lock, according to the website, meaning that they cannot sell all of their coins at one time.

Trump hasn't always been a crypto fan, even calling the industry a "scam" and a "disaster waiting to happen" in 2021. Still, the crypto industry courted Trump heavily during the 2024 presidential election, raising millions of dollars for political contributions.

In turn, Trump has bought in on crypto, becoming the first presidential candidate from a major party to visit the bitcoin conference in July. Speaking with Web3 influencer Farokh Sarmad in September, Trump said the United States should be the first country to make crypto mainstream.

"If we don't do it, China will do it," Trump said. "We have to be the biggest and the best."

The website for Trump's coin says that the meme coins are "intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol "$TRUMP" and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type."