Meme coins have taken center stage since the launch of Official Trump (TRUMP), which now ranks as the second largest meme coin after flipping Shiba Inu (SHIB). Melania Trump also launched her meme coin, MELANIA, which reached a market cap of $1.5 billion in less than 12 hours.
As of press time, TRUMP and MELANIA have outperformed the broader crypto market after gaining 64% and 49%, respectively. Despite these gains, there have been mixed reactions from the crypto community, with some accusing Trump of profiting at the expense of the crypto community.
Messari founder Ryan Selkis critical the release of the meme piece MELANIA, saying its release was ill-advised and could harm Trump’s public image.
“Please fire anyone who recommended continuing with Melania’s launch today. They don’t know what they’re doing. They cost you a lot (of money) and goodwill. They don’t think about your interests,” Selkis said.
Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan also denounced the current hype around meme coins, saying it was a “zero-sum lottery.”
“There is no creation of wealth. Each buy order is simply followed by a sell order. And after an initial increase, the price ends up collapsing and the last buyers lose everything,” he noted.
Balaji too added that unlike Dogecoin (DOGE), which had built a strong community by not being centralized, TRUMP and MELANIA had someone who could be blamed if the price collapsed.
“Very rapid price appreciation in a highly politicized environment presents a high potential for problems. A lot depends on what happens after the first major price crash. There is no one to blame for DOGE,” he said.
Increased Flows to Trump Meme Coins Attributed to Market Drop
At press time, more than $1.2 billion had been wiped from the entire cryptocurrency market due to forced liquidations. According to analyst Ash Crypto, the hype around TRUMP and MELANIA caused this decline as traders withdrew capital from other altcoins to purchase the two meme coins.
Ran Neuner, the founder of Crypto Banter, supported this sentiment and accused Trump of profiting at the expense of the entire crypto industry.
“After MELANIA, it is clear that they are now engaging in scams at the expense of the entire crypto community, sucking liquidity from the rest of the market,” he said. said.
However, despite these criticisms, Donald Trump Jr believes that the success of these meme coins demonstrated significant achievements in the crypto industry.
“We are all extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. TRUMP is currently the hottest digital meme in the world,” he said.