The money is flowing in Washington, and as Donald Trump takes office as the 47th President of the United States, it's more than just his 'drill, baby, drill' motto that hopes to boost the U.S. economy.
Aside from being the first President to pay in Bitcoin (for a burger), Trump also held a crypto ball ahead of his January 20 inauguration. It was a well-timed move, coming just after the launch of his $TRUMP meme coin. Melania Trump has also entered the market with her $MELANIA meme coin, and with Donald Trump's net worth soaring in the aftermath, he's already cashing in on crypto.
Even if the newly reinstated POTUS is smiling about his new wealth, others are concerned that some people are destined to lose big on these Trump coins. It was only recently that Haliey "Hawk Tuah Girl" Welch found herself caught in allegations that her $HAWK meme coin was a 'pump and dump' scam, and already, the Trumps are facing similar heat.
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Despite over 500 people becoming millionaires thanks to investing in $TRUMP, crypto investment strategist Gabor Gurbacs has called for Trump to fire his financial advisors.
In response to $TRUMP, Gurbacs wrote: "Trump needs to fire his crypto advisors, from top to bottom and replace with people who know what they are doing.
“The memecoins cost the US, the presidency and his family a lot of credibility and the consequences haven’t even started."
Gurbacs isn't alone, with Castle Island Ventures' Nic Carter telling Politico: "It’s absolutely preposterous that he would do this. They’re plumbing new depths of idiocy with the meme coin launch."
Even though Carter is a self-confessed 'avowed and explicit' Trump supporter, he can't ignore the potential ramifications. It comes after sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump launched their World Liberty Financial decentralized finance protocol. Eyebrows were raised by Donald Trump's title of 'chief crypto advocate' and Barron Trump being its 'DeFi visionary'.
One Washington lobbyist wished to remain anonymous but told Politico: "It’s awful. This is a horrible look for the industry already trying to make the case that we’re not a bunch of hucksters, scammers and fraudsters."
Even if the wider crypto world is wary of the President's meme coin, those close to him are going all in. Posting on X, Eric Trump warned, "We are just getting started!"
The Securities and Exchange Commission has battled with the meme coin culture for a while, with former SEC official Marc Fagel admitting: "Is [it] healthy to have so much money tied up in what are essentially pyramid schemes?
"Of course not. But what are the tools to prevent that? We don’t have a lot of legal tools to prevent people from doing things that are really dumb with their money."
Interestingly, the official site for $TRUMP comes with a disclaimer that reiterates the meme coin is 'not intended to be, or the subject of' an investment opportunity.
There's plenty of talk about $TRUMP sticking around longer than other meme coins due to the small matter of having the POTUS behind it, but with the increasingly volatile meme coin market, we've learned to expect the unexpected.