The U.S. President personally "harvests leeks," Trump Coin has dropped 94% in a year!

The cryptocurrency launched by Trump has plummeted over 90% from its peak, with investors who bought at high prices facing significant losses.

In January last year, just before Trump's inauguration, the Trump token briefly soared from $1.20 to a peak of $75.35, and is now trading at $4.96, down 94% from its high.

(Trump token weekly chart, latest quote $4.96)

A few days after the launch of the Trump token, Trump's wife Melania launched her own meme coin. Its price has now dropped from a peak of $13.73 to the current $0.15, a decline of 99%.

(Melania token weekly chart, latest quote $0.1542)

According to a previous investigation by the Financial Times, the Trump family's cryptocurrency activities have generated over $1 billion in pre-tax profits. These token projects have faced severe criticism from cryptocurrency industry figures, governance experts, and Democrats for being seen as quick money-making schemes and abuse of power.

The Decline of Meme Coin Frenzy

Investor enthusiasm for meme coins peaked at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.

These highly volatile tokens can be issued online by anyone, lacking fundamental value, business models, or cash flow, relying solely on their popularity and association with viral moments or celebrities to generate speculative interest.

Despite the significant price drop, according to CoinMarketCap data, the Trump token remains the fifth largest meme coin by market capitalization.

The Trump token and Melania token have generated approximately $427 million in sales and trading fees, but the specific profit distribution between the two parties remains unclear.

The Trump organization has now shifted its focus to other projects.

The Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social media platform controlled by the Trump family, plans to issue new cryptocurrency tokens to shareholders on February 2 as part of an agreement with Crypto.com.

Concerns Over Conflicts of Interest

Since returning to the White House, Trump has been a strong supporter of the cryptocurrency industry, appointing regulatory officials who support cryptocurrencies and pardoning some criminals. He and his family have also founded multiple cryptocurrency businesses.

U.S. governance experts are calling for strict safeguards to be included in the landmark U.S. cryptocurrency market structure rules currently being developed in Washington to prevent conflicts of interest in government.

Several groups, including Democracy Defenders Action and the Project on Government Oversight, sent a letter to the Senate last week urging it to include measures that would prohibit the president and other senior officials from holding or trading cryptocurrencies They wrote that otherwise the system "could be exploited by those in power, putting ordinary investors at risk of fraud, manipulation, and abuse," and pointed out various cryptocurrency businesses of the Trump family.