Melania Trump launched her own digital currency on Sunday on the eve of her husband's presidential inauguration, just a day after launching her own coin – moves that are raising ethical concerns among observers crypto industry.
“The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now,” the incoming first lady write on X.
Donald Trump had launched his own meme coin, $TRUMP Saturdaymarked by images of his assassination attempt in July.
The $TRUMP coin soared to nearly $11 billion in market value Monday morning, according to crypto data platform CoinMarketCap, which could increase his net worth by billions. Meanwhile, $MELANIA had a market value of $1.7 billion a few hours before the inauguration.
About 80 percent of Trump's coin tokens are owned by CIC Digital, an affiliate of Trump's business, and another group called Fight, Fight, Fight, according to their website. It says the coins “support, and engage with, the ideals and beliefs represented by the '$TRUMP' symbol,” and are not an investment or security. they are
The announcement of the coins caused surprise and concern even among those in the cryptocurrency industry, some of whom criticized the Trumps for again takes advantage of his leadership by launching a profitable business product from which he and his family profit.
“While it's tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump sighting, the launch of an official Trump token opens up a box of ethical and regulatory questions at Pandora,” said Justin D'Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.
“Should public figures, especially those with such a political job, use such maneuvers in speculative markets? That's a question that regulators are unlikely to ignore,” he said.
Trump is an avid supporter of crypto
Cryptocurrencies are a type of digital currency that can be used to pay for things in the online world, and meme coins – often volatile – are a type of crypto like usually driven by internet jokes.
Bitcoin, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, went up after Trump's election victory. It rallied again to its pre-establishment high, after jumping more than 10 percent so far this month.
The incoming president has been an enthusiastic supporter of crypto, signaling on the campaign trail that he would launch a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, and with many working in crypto hopeful that it will. refund rules of the oldest industry.
Trump appointed venture capitalist David O. Sacks as the nation's first crypto czar, and became the first presidential candidate to accept crypto as a legitimate form of contribution to his campaign.
Bloomberg reports that Trump could use an executive order to classify cryptocurrency as a “national priority” after his inauguration on Monday. It also has strong support from the industry, with crypto companies like Ripple, Robinhood and Coinbase given to his first fund.
But the president-elect has not always been hot on the digital asset: Trump previously called Bitcoin a “scam” in 2021, lamenting that it was competing with and influencing the value of the dollar the US.
