Top line
A pair of crypto tokens launched by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have lost more than 50% in value since their weekend peak, highlighting the volatile nature of so-called “meme coins” – which several executives cryptography warned could harm the reputation of their industry.
Key facts
The OFFICIAL TRUMP token or $TRUMP fell to $37.85 on Tuesday morning, down about 50% from Sunday’s high of around $75.
The selloff reduced TRUMP to $7.56 billion, down from more than $15 billion on Sunday, although it remains the 25th most valuable crypto token on the market.
The price of the first lady’s “Official Melania Meme” or $MELANIA token stood at $4.31 on Tuesday, down nearly 70% from its high of $13.70 on Monday.
The market capitalization of the $MELANIA meme coin has fallen below $900 million, a sharp drop from the $2 billion mark it crossed on Monday, hours after its launch.
The drop in both tokens, which trade on the Solana blockchain platform, also appears to have hit the platform’s native SOL token, whose price fell more than 5% in the past 24 hours to $240.
Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, is also down about 4% from Monday’s all-time high of around $109,000.
Get breaking news text alerts from Forbes: We run text message alerts so you’re always aware of the biggest stories making headlines of the day. Send “Alerts” by SMS to (201) 335-0739 or register here.
What do we know about $Trump?
Asset announcement launching his meme piece in a Truth Social article on Friday eveningsaying, “My NEW official Trump meme is HERE!” It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! » The token’s price surged overnight and more than tripled on Saturday morning before hitting an all-time high of $75 on Sunday. THE Coin’s website says 200 million tokens were made available at launch and the overall supply will slowly increase to one billion tokens over the next three years. The 800 million unreleased tokens are currently held by CIC Digital LLC, a subsidiary of the Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which was incorporated in Delaware on January 7.
What do we know about Melania?
The first lady announcement the launch of his play on Sunday afternoon. The $MELANIA meme coin was distributed by MKT World, a Florida company incorporated by Melania Trump in 2021. According to the coin’s website, the first lady’s team has reserved 35% of the token supply, which will remain locked for the first 30 days. Like the $TRUMP coins website, the $MELANIA purchase page also includes a disclaimer stating that the tokens are “digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support and commitment to the values embodied by the symbol MELANIA”. and associated works of art. The note then adds that the meme coins are not intended to be “an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”
Surprising fact
The $TRUMP coin saw great success on Sunday evening, dropping almost 40% to $35, shortly after the launch of the $MELANIA coin. However, it managed to pare some losses and reach around $53 after the Robinhood investing app. announcement the token was “now available for trading” on its platform.