Donald Trump’s Memecoin $TRUMP Nets $350M, Sparks Conflict of Interest Concerns

Donald Trump’s foray into cryptocurrency has yielded a staggering $350 million in just three weeks, thanks to the launch of his memecoin, $TRUMP, on the Solana blockchain.

According to an analysis of blockchain data by Financial Times, digital wallets tied to the project’s operators amassed this fortune following the token’s debut in January 2025, mere days before Trump’s return to the White House.

The windfall, derived from direct token sales and trading fees, has intensified scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, with critics arguing it exploits both the presidency and retail investors.

The Mechanics of $TRUMP’s Launch

The $TRUMP memecoin, a speculative asset with no intrinsic utility, was minted with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. At launch, Trump-affiliated accounts allocated 200 million tokens for immediate release, holding back 800 million for a phased rollout over three years.

Of the initial batch, 158 million tokens were funneled into a liquidity pool on Meteora, a decentralized exchange on Solana. This pool enabled traders to swap USDC (a dollar-pegged stablecoin) for $TRUMP, driving early liquidity and sales. Within 18 days, Trump-linked wallets withdrew $350 million in USDC from this pool, including $314 million from token sales and $36 million in fees earned as liquidity providers.

In a strategic move, $291 million of the withdrawn USDC was reinvested into a second liquidity pool, bolstering the token’s market stability. Meanwhile, 14.7 million $TRUMP tokens were sent to major exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Coinbase for additional sales, with Trump entities retaining 31 million of the original 200 million tokens.

While the token’s price soared to a peak of $75, the first 100 million tokens were sold at an average of $1.05, locking in profits before the value later crashed to $13, a decline of 82% from its high.

A Presidential Profiteering Scheme?

The $TRUMP project has drawn sharp criticism from investors and ethics experts alike. Tim Massad, a former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and adjunct law professor at Georgetown, condemned the venture, stating, “The president of the United States should not be essentially doing things to profit from his office while in office. It’s a terrible example.”

The token’s structure, 80% owned by CIC Digital LLC (an affiliate of The Trump Organization) and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a Delaware entity raises questions about how much Trump personally profits, though the exact figure remains unclear.

The official website, Gettrumpmemes.com, insists the project isn’t directly managed by Trump or The Trump Organization, despite his public endorsement.

Trump himself fueled hype with a January X post: “GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW,” linking to the site. Critics argue this effectively channels anonymous funds to the president via crypto, sidestepping traditional donation regulations while exposing retail traders to a volatile asset. Neither the White House nor Gettrumpmemes.com responded to inquiries.

The $TRUMP saga took another twist when Melania Trump launched her own token, $MELANIA, just two days after $TRUMP’s debut. The move triggered a sharp drop in $TRUMP’s price, prompting the team to spend $1 million buying back their own token at $33.23 per coin an apparent bid to stabilize its value.

A Pro-Crypto Presidency and Global Ripple Effects

Trump has embraced a pro-crypto stance, set to host industry titans at a White House summit on March 14, 2025. His $TRUMP success has emboldened other world leaders to follow suit, with mixed results.

The presidents of the Central African Republic and Argentina recently promoted their memecoins, only to see their values collapse, leaving investors with steep losses.

These cautionary tales highlight the risks of tying speculative tokens to political figures a trend Trump has arguably normalized.

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