The crypto market is shaken again as the presidential candidate launches a personal Token

The crypto market is once again experiencing a huge turbulence. Just before the inauguration, the incoming president couldn't wait to bring a shock to the market. On January 18, he announced the launch of his personal Meme coin TRUMP on social media, marking a pioneering move for national leaders to issue personal Tokens and bringing a historic milestone to the crypto world.

After the announcement, TRUMP coin quickly became the focus of the market. Its price soared by 1250% in a short time, reaching a peak of 80 dollars. On the first day, its market value exceeded 20 billion dollars, setting a new record for the growth rate of cryptocurrency market capitalization. The explosive rise of TRUMP brought considerable returns to investors, but also sparked heated discussions worldwide.

It is worth noting that this morning, the future First Lady also launched a MEME Token of the same name shortly after. The couple's actions seem to suggest that they are expanding their family business into the encryption field, and their intent to raise funds has become increasingly apparent.

On January 18th at 10 AM, the presumptive president announced on the social platform he founded that he will soon launch his personal Meme coin TRUMP. Users can purchase the Token through a specified website. The accompanying image features his iconic fist-pumping gesture.

At that time, due to the fact that the crypto market had experienced multiple incidents of celebrity account hacks, and the idea of national leaders issuing Tokens sounded incredible, many people initially thought it was a hacking incident. Nevertheless, TRUMP coin still grew rapidly in a short period of time. Half an hour later, its market value soared to $2 billion. The top 10 holding addresses owned approximately 89.61% of the Tokens, with the largest holding address controlling 80% of the Tokens.

At 10:44, the presumptive president posted the same image and wallet address on another social media platform, captioned: "It's time to celebrate our victory! Join my community. Get your TRUMP Token. Have fun!" The release of this news further excited the market.

The prospective president personally stepped in to issue coins, seemingly bringing tremendous opportunities to the crypto market.

Affected by the leader effect, the price of TRUMP coin skyrocketed. Subsequently, multiple trading platforms listed it, and TRUMP surged from 20 dollars to 74 dollars, an increase of over 400 times, with its market value soaring from 2 billion dollars to 15.2 billion dollars, setting one of the fastest market value growth records. Currently, the crazy upward trend of TRUMP coin has cooled down, now reported at 48.65 dollars.

According to the official introduction, TRUMP is issued on a certain public chain. This Token aims to commemorate the image of the quasi-president surviving a gunshot robbery on July 13, 2024, and raising his fist while shouting the iconic slogan "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT". The official website states that this is "the most memorable MEME of the century."

To attract more users to participate and lower the investment threshold, TRUMP offers various payment and purchasing options. Initial purchases must be made through designated platforms, but traditional payment methods such as Apple Pay, Visa, Mastercard, Venmo, and crypto market payment methods like USDC and SOL are supported.

In terms of Token allocation, the total supply of TRUMP is 1 billion coins, with an initial circulation of 200 million coins. The remaining 800 million is expected to be unlocked linearly over 3 years. This seems ordinary, but looking at the distribution ratio, the real beneficiaries have emerged. Two companies under the future president will receive 80% of the TRUMP Tokens, with a lock-up period of 3-12 months, and will be unlocked over the next 24 months.

For the crypto market, this is a significant event following the indirect involvement of a certain political family in DeFi projects, as national leaders directly issue tokens in their personal capacity, with far-reaching implications. The issuance of MEME tokens by leaders of major global powers is a political breakthrough in the crypto market, likely triggering a chain reaction in other countries and regions, opening new channels for political donations and personal profits. On the other hand, the leader's participation also highlights his high recognition of cryptocurrency. Considering that this event coincides with the eve of the inauguration ceremony, coupled with the fact that a large number of executive orders will be signed on the first day of the new term to advance priority matters, the crypto market is likely to be included. In the next four years, the spring of the crypto industry may reappear.

In addition, the wealth effect brought by the TRUMP Token is also quite remarkable. According to statistics, due to its skyrocketing price, several large holders have made profits exceeding ten million dollars, and more than ten well-known opinion leaders have achieved profits of over one million dollars on a single coin. A savvy investor even secured funds just four hours before the release of the TRUMP Token and purchased tokens worth one million dollars in the first minute, with peak unrealized gains exceeding one hundred million dollars.

This red envelope effect is not limited to TRUMP coin. Although it has attracted a large amount of market funds, this Token has still driven the rise of major related coins. Bitcoin rose from $97,000 to $105,000, and a certain public chain Token became the biggest winner, rapidly surging late at night on January 18, peaking over $270, with a 24-hour increase of up to 23.02%.

Participants have all received substantial profits, and the prospective president is no exception. With the rise in Token prices, overnight, his net worth skyrocketed to $28 billion. As of now, based on the Token price of $48, the value of the crypto assets he holds has reached $38.4 billion. In contrast, a financial media outlet estimated his wealth at $5.6 billion last November, meaning his wealth has increased by 7.8 times. In response, a netizen commented: "The assets accumulated over three generations are not as quick as the Token distribution in a day."

In the face of such rapid wealth growth, global markets have raised questions about national leaders issuing tokens. As the head of a nation, is it immoral to openly use personal influence to issue tokens for personal gain? In contrast, most U.S. presidents disclose and divest their personal assets before taking office to avoid potential conflicts of interest and ethical issues. However, this prospective president has deviated from the norm, profiting through the issuance of air coins in a zero-sum game manner. This behavior, which blurs the boundaries between administrative authority and commercial interests, has sparked significant market controversy.

The vice president of a certain non-profit organization in the United States candidly stated that the presumptive president has excessive personal interests, "For decades, elected presidents have worked hard to separate their personal financial affairs from their duties before taking office, to demonstrate that there are no conflicts of interest. Yet now, the presumptive president has launched a new business project on the eve of taking office and promised to relax regulations, clearly attempting to profit openly from the presidential position."

Even in the encryption field, this behavior is not viewed favorably. The founder of an investment institution stated plainly, "This is a predatory behavior, many people may be harmed by it." Even a well-known supporter of the presumptive president clearly stated, "This behavior is detrimental to the industry, it is a corrupt act."

In fact, the profit-seeking behavior of the quasi-president did not start now. As a businessman, expanding personal influence into the business realm has always been his hallmark. Whether it is universities or hotels, just seeing them named after him is a clear indication. He also issued NFTs and even claimed to make NFTs great again as a presidential candidate, and after being elected, he indirectly participated in DeFi projects, and now he is issuing MEME Tokens as a quasi-president. This is enough to illustrate that the pursuit of profit has run through his entire political and business career. This time, the heated discussion was merely due to the sensitive nature of the cryptocurrency. Looking at his style of action, gathering for profit and dispersing for profit is an accurate portrayal. Apart from emphasizing national priorities in diplomatic occasions, personal interests are equally prominent. A typical example is in the crypto field; if it weren't for the need for crypto funds and voter support, he would not have suddenly changed his stance after strongly criticizing it in 2021, becoming the so-called "Bitcoin President."

It must be admitted that, aside from political maneuvering, the presumptive president has indeed done very well in making money. The low barrier to entry in the crypto market perfectly matches his high funding needs. After opening a brand new, fully controllable encrypted political donation channel, funds are continuously flowing in. Apart from MEME coins and NFTs, just this morning, a certain Token that has been on sale for months was sold out. According to the official website of the presumptive president's family crypto project, all 20 billion Tokens of the project have been sold out, valued at 300 million dollars based on a unit price of 0.015 dollars. After selling out, the project took advantage of the momentum and announced that it would reopen 5% of the Token sales.

Relying solely on oneself is not enough; the whole family must join in to achieve results faster. Early this morning, the future First Lady announced the launch of her own MELANIA Token. After the future President retweeted it, the effect of the crypto family became even more prominent. MELANIA also saw a surge in price, rising from $0.4 to a peak of $18, with a maximum market cap of $18.2 billion, but has now both retreated, stabilizing its market cap at $7.2 billion.

In terms of Token distribution, MELANIA's approach is also quite blatant in terms of harvesting the crops. The MELANIA team holds 35%, and this share starts to unlock on the 30th day, unlocking 10% of the team allocation (which accounts for 3% of the total supply) on the 30th day, followed by a linear unlock of 90% of the share from the 2nd to the 13th month, unlocking approximately 2.25% of the total supply each month, with full vesting completed in the 13th month.

The whole family is in action, and the market is not foolish. The impact effect of TRUMP has begun to show, with prices quickly falling back to $45. A certain market observation agency pointed out that within minutes after the First Lady launched the Token, a large number of TRUMP coin sell orders appeared in the market, causing the market value of TRUMP coin to evaporate by $7.5 billion within 10 minutes. This evaporation effect is still ongoing, with altcoins generally declining, and a certain public chain token even dropping to $242.

If yesterday it could still be seen as a special action of support for the crypto industry by the quasi-president issuing tokens, then from the situation of the whole family getting involved today, whether or not to issue coins does not seem important for this ambiguous quasi-president; it is purely an effective means of accumulating wealth. Although this behavior may involve ethical issues, from the perspective of existing laws, the U.S. Constitution does not seem to explicitly restrict the president from using personal influence to gain benefits, especially in the field of cryptocurrency where regulatory boundaries are still unclear.

In terms of the crypto market, it has become common for celebrities to issue MEME coins, but the ultimate outcome of celebrity MEMEs often ends in chaos; being early to the scene and quick to exit is the key to success. Of course, the prospective president may consider their governance reputation and public approval, allowing the Token to exist long-term. However, this move undoubtedly brings political MEMEs to the forefront. It is foreseeable that there will be an increase in politicians and even regional leaders issuing MEME coins, and the narrative of political finance (Politifi) will usher in a new peak. Right at noon on January 20th Eastern Time (1 AM January 21st Beijing Time), the prospective president's inauguration speech will officially begin, and the hype and frenzy will embark once again.

But whether this is a new round of wealth frenzy or a grand feast for retail investors, I'm afraid only time will tell.