Summary
Donald Trump’s meme cryptocurrency, $Trump, surged to a $14 billion market cap after launch but fell by over 50% after Melania Trump introduced her own token, $Melania, diverting investor interest.
$Trump partially recovered to $64 while $Melania reached a $13 billion valuation.
The tokens, marketed by Trump-controlled companies, sparked debate over their speculative nature, market volatility, and potential conflicts of interest.
Trump’s pro-crypto stance and promised deregulation have boosted digital currencies, though critics question the ethics of profiting from political office.
I worked in a place during the 2016 election with a lot of old-school Conservatives who hadn’t fully drunk the MAGA kool-aid yet, but did loathe Hillary with a passion. I vividly remember one of them explaining all of the meticulous research he claimed he did to go through the financial records Hillary released that prove that she was making all sorts of crooked money through speaking fees. When I pointed out that we didn’t even know where all Trump’s money came from because he didn’t release his taxes, he replied “That’s OK, I trust him”.
It will always be “rules for thee, not for me” with these folks. When the opposition looks like it is making any money at all it immediately looks suspect, but when their side does it it’s just capitalism.