Catenaa, Wednesday, January 22, 2025 –The Trump family’s venture into cryptocurrency met turbulence as newly launched meme coins—Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Meme (MELANIA)—suffered sharp declines following President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
MELANIA, introduced by First Lady Melania Trump, dropped over 60% from its debut high, settling with a market cap of $625.5 million, according to CoinGecko. Meanwhile, TRUMP fell 43% to $45 after briefly surging 12,000% during its launch. The Solana-based tokens debuted with massive hype but were hit by liquidity shifts and speculation.
The introduction of MELANIA triggered a sharp downturn for TRUMP, leading to concerns about market manipulation. Reports revealed team wallets converting TRUMP into major cryptocurrencies like Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) amid volatile trading.
Dan Hughes, CTO of Radix, called the token launches “unprecedented,” while warning of a trend where celebrity influence overshadows value-driven innovation in crypto markets.
Amidst the chaos, infrastructure on Solana struggled, with platforms like Phantom Wallet and Jupiter Exchange overwhelmed by transaction volumes. Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial (WLF), linked to the Trump family, added $47 million in Wrapped Bitcoin to its holdings, signaling strategic crypto investments.
Experts like Sudhakar Lakshmanaraja highlighted the risks of speculative tokens lacking substantive use cases. Trump’s absence of crypto-related policies during his inauguration speech disappointed industry proponents hoping for regulatory clarity.
