The cryptocurrency industry is hopeful that US President-elect Donald Trump will strengthen cryptocurrency adoption in the US and globally. But only time will tell if his newly launched Solana-based memecoin is a step in the right direction.
Trump’s memecoin, Official TRUMP, has surged 10,643% since its launch on January 17, reaching $27.50 at the time of publishing, according to data from memecoin trading platform Moonshot.
Trump’s memecoin brings new users to cryptocurrency
Just days before President Trump is to be inaugurated as President of the United States on January 20, there is speculation that he may make cryptocurrency a national priority on his first day in office.
source: moonshot
Pav Hundal, senior analyst at cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx, told Cointelegraph that the strong response to the TRUMP memecoin so far is a good sign and gives the industry a sneak peek of what will happen over the next four years of the president’s term.
“Nobody wants to hear about bears now. Trump 2.0 is already a sugar rush and he hasn’t even started his presidency yet,” Hundal said. He added:
“Solana wiped out all previous 24-hour decentralized trading volume with its Trump meme coin. “It’s truly amazing.”
The launch of the memecoin sparked a rally in the price of Solana (SOL)’s native token, reaching an all-time high of $270.
TRUMP has shown how quickly and rapidly demand for cryptocurrencies can surge, but Hundal said the “true value” of Trump’s presidency will depend on the “long-term environment” it creates.
“We are on the verge of reasonable regulation,” he said.
Meanwhile, others say that while the TRUMP token may have attracted many new users to cryptocurrency, it could harm the industry in the long run.
This comes after initial suspicions surfaced when the token was first announced on Trump’s social media, with people wondering if his account had been hacked.
Scott Melker, known as “The Wolf of Every Street,” said in a Jan. 18 Melker added:
“Donald Trump will likely take millions of new people into space.”
Moonshot, the platform where Trump instructed his followers to buy memecoins, reported over 200,000 new on-chain users since the token’s launch.
“This is a free cash grab. I don’t see how anyone could object to that,” Melker said, noting that insiders sniping supply at launch means holding on to 80% of the supply.
“Steam is making billions of dollars,” Melker said.
source: wolf in every street
There were concerns about 80% of tokens being concentrated in a single wallet.
Arkham Intelligence said that assuming the wallet belonged to Trump, the memecoin boosted Trump’s net worth to $22 billion overnight.
On the other hand, others say this is very positive for token holders.
Cryptocurrency advocate Erik Thoughts said in a Jan. 18
“The majority of the supply is protected from the rug being pulled out by someone with a vested interest in the coin’s good performance,” he said.
This may not be the ‘right direction for cryptocurrency’
TradeZella founder Umar Ashraf said he does not believe Trump should have his own memecoin or even promote his own memecoin, given his position.
“This is not the right direction for cryptocurrencies,” Ashraf said.
relevant: How did Donald Trump handle cryptocurrencies during his first term?
Moonwell Finance founder Luke Youngblood said this is a “bad long-term situation” for the cryptocurrency industry.
However, Youngblood said in an open letter to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that cryptocurrency exchanges still need to list the tokens.
He argued that Trump supporters will want to buy the token regardless and that Coinbase is a more accessible place to trade “where you won’t get scammed.”
Memecoin’s launch coincided with the “Crypto Ball” honoring Trump, a high-profile event that brought together industry leaders such as MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Gemini’s Winklevoss twins, and Trump’s crypto counterpart David Sacks. And artificial intelligence torture.
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