The launch of a Donald Trump “meme coin” has handed the incoming president a paper fortune that makes him one of the world’s richest men on the eve of his inauguration.
Mr Trump is sitting on a stack of digital tokens theoretically worth $43bn (£35bn) after investors and supporters piled in to the launch of his $Trump coin on Friday.
The token, announced by Mr Trump on Friday, soared in value after its launch to become one of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrencies.
The 200m in circulation are worth a combined $10.7bn (£8.6bn), but the coin’s website said that 1bn tokens will be released in total over the next three years.
The remaining 800m are still held by CIC Digital, which describes itself as an affiliate of the Trump Organisation, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a subsidiary.
At the coin’s current price of $53.65 that would make the holdings worth $42.9bn.
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It is unclear how much Mr Trump personally stands to gain although this sum would put Mr Trump at 33rd in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Combined with his existing $7.2bn fortune he would be worth $50.1bn, placing him 26th, just behind private equity mogul Stephen Schwarzman.
Securing that wealth appears unlikely. Meme coins are notorious for volatile price movements and traders seeking to ride their momentum to make quick profits by rapidly buying and selling the tokens.
The Trump coin itself rapidly fell from a high of $75.35 on Sunday to around half that several hours later, before recovering on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s wife Melania released her own meme coin on Sunday, which has since shot up in value. The 192m Melania coins in circulation have a value of $2.2bn.
The price of Bitcoin also hit an all-time high on Monday, rising above $109,000. Mr Trump has described himself as the “crypto president” and was heavily backed by the industry during the election.
While the launch of the Trump coin promises a potential fortune for the new president, it was criticised by many cryptocurrency backers.
Balaji Srinivasan, a cryptocurrency investor, said meme coins were a “zero sum game”, while investor Erik Voorhees called it “stupid and embarrassing”. Former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci called it “Idi Amin-level corruption”.
What are the Trump and Melania meme coins?
While cryptocurrency supporters believe Bitcoin and other coins could reshape the financial system, the ambitions of meme coin creators are a little less lofty.
They are typically created to drum up popularity for a trend or to allow fans to express their support for influencers, and have little intrinsic use. Their values often fluctuate wildly, with investors speculating that they can make a profit in what has been likened to gambling.
The coins are traded on online exchanges and can be purchased and sold for cash or using other cryptocurrencies.
The meme coin’s owners can make money by selling more of the coins in the future, as well as through transaction fees when they are bought and sold.
The $Trump coin was announced by Mr Trump on Friday night. He wrote on X: “My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!”
The website for the $Trump coin states that “Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol ‘$TRUMP’ and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”
The $Melania coin was announced by Ms Trump on Sunday. Its website carries similar investment warnings.