Melania Launches Own Meme Coin Days After Husband Donald Trump's Cryptocurrency Surges to New High

Meme coins are widely regarded as highly speculative investments due to their susceptibility to insider trading and extreme price fluctuations.

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Donald Trump's cryptocurrency meme coin had been surging in value since its launch but abruptly plummeted after his wife, Melania Trump, launched her own cryptocurrency. The former first lady announced her token on Sunday at 4:10 p.m. ET via Truth Social and X, after which the value of $TRUMP tumbled nearly 41%, according to CoinMarketCap.

Despite the sharp decline, Trump shared both of Melania's announcements on his social media platforms. The $MELANIA token, hosted on the Solana blockchain like $TRUMP, is priced at around $0.09. However, it remains much smaller in scale compared to her husband's token, which has a market capitalization of nearly $4.5 million against Trump's $8.5 billion.

Melania's Big Launch

Melania Trump
Melania Trump X

When the soon-to-be president announced his meme coin on Friday via Truth Social, enthusiastic supporters quickly drove its market cap to an impressive $13.3 billion. Melania's surprise launch of her meme token left many people completely stunned.

"This is beyond insane," a The Kobeissi Letter analyst posted to X. "Less than 48 hours ago, Donald Trump launched $trump which just erased $7.5 billion in market cap in 10 minutes. In the minutes around the launch of Melania Trump's token, we saw massive sell orders in $trump."

Trump Madison Square Garden
Donald and Melania Trump X

"Looks like crypto is becoming a family business," prolific X influencer Mario Nawfal posted.

Meme coins are widely regarded as highly speculative investments due to their susceptibility to insider trading and extreme price fluctuations.

With thousands available across numerous platforms, these tokens carry significant risk. The most recent meme coin to draw negative attention was Hailey Welch's $HAWK, which she launched with the backing of a questionable foundation on December 4.

The $HAWK token initially reached a market cap of $490 million but crashed by over 90% within hours, leading to accusations of fraud from the crypto community and a lawsuit against its creators.

According to Melania's meme coin website, the distribution of $MELANIA tokens is as follows: 35% allocated for team vesting, 20% each for the team's treasury and community, and 10% for liquidity. Only 15% of the tokens are available for public purchase.

Data from DEXScreener reveals that more than 147,000 crypto wallets hold stakes in $MELANIA. However, four wallets collectively control 85% of the token supply.

Risky Venture

A disclaimer on the website emphasizes that Melania's meme coin is designed as a way to show support for and engage with the values represented by the "MELANIA" symbol. It explicitly states that the token is "not intended to serve as, or be construed as, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any kind."

Melania Trump
twitter

Trump's meme coin website features similar disclaimers, likely aimed at avoiding regulatory action from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The announcement of Trump's meme coin included an artistic rendering of the token, depicting him pumping his right fist in the air alongside the slogan, "Fight, Fight, Fight."

"My new Official Trump Meme is here! It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: winning!' the president-elect wrote. 'Join my very special Trump Community. Get your $Trump now. Go to — Have Fun!"

Melania and Donald Trump
Melania and Donald Trump X

The coin's design is based on an image of Trump moments after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. During the incident, he raised his fist in defiance to show he was unhurt.

Both Melania's and Trump's tokens are fungible, meaning each unit is identical and interchangeable, much like traditional currencies such as the U.S. dollar.

In the past, Trump has also marketed non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital trading cards that depicted him in a variety of heroic scenarios.

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