'Brazen grift': Trump ripped over crypto 'rugpull' scheme now valued at $32 billion

18 January

President-elect Donald Trump has now found yet another way to convince his followers to throw their money his way — this time with a questionable cryptocurrency venture.

Axios is reporting that the soon-to-be 47th president of the United States has rolled out a "meme coin" dubbed $TRUMP, which is being billed as the "only official Trump meme." According to Axios, $TRUMP has already accumulated a valuation of roughly $32 billion. And because the Trump Organization is keeping 80% of the coins, this means the president-elect and his businesses are roughly $25 billion richer as a result.

Techdirt writer Mike Masnick wrote on Bluesky that the meme coin's market cap topped $9 billion in less than 12 hours, and that it soon jumped to $15 billion just hours later. As of 1:30 PM Eastern Time, the coin is trading at nearly $30 per unit.

"People are dumping like crazy and it's dropping fast," Masnick wrote early Saturday morning. "Noticing many large dollar sales, while buys are small amounts."

Journalist Judd Legum, who publishes the Popular Information Substack newsletter, called the meme coin a "brazen grift." And British novelist Hari Kunzru predicted that the Trump supporters who were eagerly buying the meme coin were in for a shock.

"Wake up to find that the incoming president is pumping a meme coin and is probably about to rugpull his followers and make several billion dollars," Kunzru wrote on Bluesky.

Matt Novak, who writes for tech publication Gizmodo, remarked that it was "crazy" that "the incoming president "launched his fake money right before taking office." He noted that this venture was different from his campaign's non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that he sold alongside pieces of the suit he wore while having his mugshot taken.

"I assumed this was more NFTs but it’s specifically a *fungible* asset meaning he’s selling his own crypto coin. On top of that, it has a crazy f—ing disclaimer and all the hallmarks of a f—ing rugpull," Novak wrote. "This is f—ing nuts."

The disclaimer Novak referred to in his skeet (the generally accepted term for a Bluesky post) openly tells prospective buyers that it is only meant to be "an expression of support for, and engagement with the ideals and beliefs embodied by" the president-elect. It goes on to warn that the coins themselves "are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract or security of any type."

Author Benjamin Dreyer was more direct in his criticism, telling his followers: "I have no idea what a fungible meme coin is, and if you attempt to explain it to me I’ll block you."

Click here to read Axios' article in full.

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