Donald Trump, the president-elect of the United States, has seen the official meme coin 'TRUMP' he issued continue to soar just three days before his inauguration. A meme coin refers to a speculative cryptocurrency that has no functional use. The Solana network, where the meme coin was issued, has also benefited from this surge, leading to a price increase.
According to Coinbase, as of 6:20 p.m. Korean time on the 19th, the price of the coin is trading at $69.54 (around 102,000 won). Its market capitalization has reached $1.22644647 billion (approximately 17.9 trillion won), placing it 13th among all cryptocurrencies.
On the 17th (local time), Trump noted through his social media accounts, including Truth Social and X (formerly Twitter), that it was time to celebrate "the victory of everything we support" and encouraged people to join the "very special Trump community" and obtain "$TRUMP."
Following this, Trump did not provide further comments, but his son Eric stated in an online post the next day that the coin is "the hottest digital meme in the world," and Trump's account on X also retweeted this statement. The homepage of the coin prominently displays the phrase "the only official Trump meme."
With the inauguration ceremony scheduled for the 20th (2 a.m. on the 21st Korean time) just three days away, speculation arose that Trump's social media accounts may have been hacked. However, with no further announcements, the Trump coin began to experience an upward trend.
The homepage of the Trump meme coin shows that 80% of the circulating coins are held by two subsidiaries of the 'Trump Organization,' where Eric serves as the senior vice president. There are concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as a significant portion of the profits from the rising coin price would accrue to the Trump Group.
As the Trump meme coin gained popularity, Solana also saw its price soar. The Trump coin was issued through the Solana network, and it is naturally structured to be tradable on the Solana DEX, which uses Solana as its base currency. To buy Trump coins, one must purchase Solana. Coins within the Solana ecosystem, such as Jupiter (JUP) and Raydium (RAY), also experienced price increases.