The crypto industry had never seen support from someone as powerful as the U.S. President. Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump declared his intention to make the United States the ‘world capital of artificial intelligence and crypto.’ This commitment appeared to be not just in words but backed by some actions, such as appointing crypto-friendly officials to key roles and creating a crypto task force to establish clear regulations—raising high expectations. Adding to this, Trump sent a strong financial signal with a $47 million purchase of Bitcoin and Ethereum through his World Liberty Financial to mark his inauguration, amassing a total crypto portfolio valued at over $360 million. However, the recent launch of his and his wife’s highly volatile and utility-less meme coins made the hearts of many in the industry sink and raised questions about potential conflicts of interest. Some even called it a slap in the face to those working hard to build real products in crypto and to an industry as a whole that had spent heavily to help Trump win. Are those hopes truly lost, or does the crypto market still have a bright future ahead? As the saying goes, hope dies last—so let’s explore.
The Controversial Journey of the $TRUMP Coin
The meme coin called $TRUMP appeared on Donald Trump’s social media accounts ahead of his inauguration and quickly surged to become one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies. The price of a single $TRUMP token skyrocketed to $75.35. However, it sharply declined after the launch of $MELANIA coin, and as of this writing, $TRUMP trades at $34 with a market cap of $6.91 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
A Magnet for Scammers
As with many high-profile crypto launches, the $TRUMP token became a prime target for opportunists and scammers. According to Blockaid’s report, scammers wasted no time exploiting the buzz.
On the day of the $TRUMP launch, the number of tokens bearing the “Trump” name skyrocketed by 206%, with over 6,800 new tokens deployed. Many were malicious, designed to mimic the official $TRUMP token and lure unsuspecting investors.
The day after the launch, fake decentralized applications (dApps) using Trump’s name increased by 14x, with 91 impersonator dApps launched within 24 hours.
The …
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