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Newsletter: Trump horrifies even some of his crypto-steeped fans by launching a memecoin before his inauguration, and a flurry of activity from the new administration signals what’s in store for the crypto world in the next four years.
First, a note about my work. I am entirely funded by readers like you, and your support will be crucial going into what is clearly going to be a very busy four years.
Trump’s memecoin did not exactly receive a warm welcome from much of the crypto world, who were horrified that their crypto president would tarnish the industry’s sterling reputation by doing a blatant cashgrab.
![As some of Trump’s most devoted supporters from the crypto world were clinking champagne flutes at the industry-funded black-tie “Crypto Ball”, Trump was elsewhere, launching his own $TRUMP memecoin.b There had been no signal that this was coming, and it took the crypto world by surprise. Some, myself included, wondered if Trump’s Twitter was the latest casualty of a years-long slew of incidents in which high-profile Twitter accounts are compromised and used to shill fake crypto projects [W3IGG].
We had reason to be suspicious: the token was launched without any of the usual teasers and other crowdwork typical of Trump’s other crypto ventures. The wallet used to create the token was funded with deposits from Binance and Gate.io, two crypto exchanges that are not supposed to be available to US traders (and a particularly odd choice for a president demanding that crypto be “made in the USA”). His wealthy backers at exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken appeared to be as surprised as everyone else, and it took them several days to list the token — losing them substantial trading volume compared to if they had been in on the plan from the getgo.](https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/113/884/441/032/091/835/original/f2793aaa8f712f3b.png "As some of Trump’s most devoted supporters from the crypto world were clinking champagne flutes at the industry-funded black-tie “Crypto Ball”, Trump was elsewhere, launching his own $TRUMP memecoin.b There had been no signal that this was coming, and it took the crypto world by surprise. Some, myself included, wondered if Trump’s Twitter was the latest casualty of a years-long slew of incidents in which high-profile Twitter accounts are compromised and used to shill fake crypto projects [W3IGG].
We had reason to be suspicious: the token was launched without any of the usual teasers and other crowdwork typical of Trump’s other crypto ventures. The wallet used to create the token was funded with deposits from Binance and Gate.io, two crypto exchanges that are not supposed to be available to US traders (and a particularly odd choice for a president demanding that crypto be “made in the USA”). His wealthy backers at exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken appeared to be as surprised as everyone else, and it took them several days to list the token — losing them substantial trading volume compared to if they had been in on the plan from the getgo.")
![Nevertheless, $TRUMP turned out to be the genuine article [W3IGG], and so was the $MELANIA token that followed shortly after. Whoever launched the $MELANIA token perhaps thought they could replicate the successful $TRUMP cash-grab by simply doing the same thing all over again, not realizing that launching a second closely-linked token would directly compete with the first. Indeed, $TRUMP prices tanked 58% upon the $MELANIA launch [W3IGG]. The prices of both tokens have dwindled since, as memecoin prices often do. However, it seems to have succeeded in convincing even more people to get into crypto: an app called “Moonshot” briefly rose to the top of the app store rankings for free finance apps as Trump partnered with the platform to allow people to purchase his $TRUMP tokens using a debit card, Apple Pay, or Venmo.1 Moonshot’s Twitter account is full of celebratory tweets and retweets about onboarding more non-crypto users, with one tweet reading “Boomers have onboarded”,2 and a retweet of a person writing “my entire family including my 80 year old grandma is on” the app.3
While the crypto world has been loudly all in for Trump, his memecoin stunt was a bridge too far for some. Crypto venture capitalist and enthusiastic Trump supporter Nic Carter, who was attending the ball when the token was launched, told Politico, “It’s absolutely preposterous that he would do this ... They’re plumbing new depths of idiocy with the memecoin launch.”4](https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/113/884/441/039/204/787/original/edbc953bade627e5.png "Nevertheless, $TRUMP turned out to be the genuine article [W3IGG], and so was the $MELANIA token that followed shortly after. Whoever launched the $MELANIA token perhaps thought they could replicate the successful $TRUMP cash-grab by simply doing the same thing all over again, not realizing that launching a second closely-linked token would directly compete with the first. Indeed, $TRUMP prices tanked 58% upon the $MELANIA launch [W3IGG]. The prices of both tokens have dwindled since, as memecoin prices often do. However, it seems to have succeeded in convincing even more people to get into crypto: an app called “Moonshot” briefly rose to the top of the app store rankings for free finance apps as Trump partnered with the platform to allow people to purchase his $TRUMP tokens using a debit card, Apple Pay, or Venmo.1 Moonshot’s Twitter account is full of celebratory tweets and retweets about onboarding more non-crypto users, with one tweet reading “Boomers have onboarded”,2 and a retweet of a person writing “my entire family including my 80 year old grandma is on” the app.3
While the crypto world has been loudly all in for Trump, his memecoin stunt was a bridge too far for some. Crypto venture capitalist and enthusiastic Trump supporter Nic Carter, who was attending the ball when the token was launched, told Politico, “It’s absolutely preposterous that he would do this ... They’re plumbing new depths of idiocy with the memecoin launch.”4")
In my view, the memecoin launch only adds to Trump’s long list of already very serious conflicts of interest and unethical activities.
The industry’s high hopes for a crypto-focused day one in office quickly sank. However, Trump eventually got around to them later on, issuing a pardon for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht on day two.
@molly0xfff What does Ross Ulbricht’s pardon mean to the crypto industry? I mean it seems to me that crypto is already somewhat concerned about looking like a grift and scam, one would think they’d stay as far away from someone like Ulbricht as they can. “It’s okay if you use crypto to buy drugs and identities on the dark web” seems like a weird flex.
@jgeorge there’s a fair bit of overlap between the libertarian and crypto industry view on Ulbricht. Generally they seem him as someone who was simply providing a free market, and feel it was unfair that he was prosecuted on drug crimes when he was operating the marketplace and not directly supplying the drugs
@molly0xfff Interesting, thank you, that’s a take that I really wasn’t understanding. Granted, I think it’s a /stupid/ take, personally, but it is at least a take.