New first lady Melania Trump launched a cryptocurrency on the eve of her husband’s inauguration as president of the United States.
The announcement comes after the election of the president-elect Donald Trump launched the $Trump cryptocurrency. Both coins rose but saw volatile trading.
“The official Melania meme is live! You can buy $Melania now”, she posted on the social platform on Sunday.
Disclaimers on the websites for the $Trump and $Melania coins stated that they were “not intended to be, nor will be the subject of” an investment opportunity or security.
According to the website CoinMarketCap, $Trump has a total market valuation of around $12 billion (£9.8 billion), while Melania’s is around $1.7 billion.
Trump had previously called crypto a “scam,” but during the 2024 election campaign, he became the first presidential candidate to accept digital assets as donations.
During the campaign, his family launched a cryptocurrency company called World Liberty Financial, which aims to lead “a financial revolution by dismantling the hold of traditional financial institutions,” and also sells a cryptocurrency coin.
The new Trump coin was launched by CIC Digital LLC, a subsidiary of the Trump Organization, which is linked to previous sales of collectible crypto NFTs launched in 2022 that raised millions of dollars but have since dropped significantly in value for their owners .
According to CoinGecko, NFTs once sold for over $1,000, but their value has since dropped to around $300.
During the election campaign, Trump also said he would create a strategic Bitcoin stockpile and appoint financial regulators who would take a more positive stance toward digital assets.
This raised hopes that he would remove regulations on the crypto industry.
Following Trump’s victory, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of around $109,000 according to crypto trading platform Coinbase.
New artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto czar David Sacks hosted a “Crypto Ball” in Washington, DC on Friday.
Other cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin – which was promoted by Elon Musk, a prominent Trump supporter – have also risen sharply this year.
Under President Joe Biden, regulators have raised concerns about fraud and money laundering as they crack down on crypto companies suing exchanges.
The growth of Dogecoin has significantly increased interest in “meme coins” – cryptocurrencies usually tied to a trend or viral moment on the internet.
Melania’s Meme piece comes from her own company MKT World LLC — a company she has used since 2021 for various businesses, including selling portraits of her as first lady.
Meme coins can be created and launched by anyone, and there are thousands of them.
Thanks to their profile and presence on social networks, Trump and Melania coins have already entered the top 100 coins in terms of value, and Melania’s coin is now worth more than AI entrepreneur Sam’s Worldcoin Altman.