$Trump Meme Coin Price Explodes As MAGA Quickly Buys New Crypto Bet

President-elect Donald Trump has launched an official meme cryptocurrency called $TRUMP on the Solana blockchain, shortly before his second inauguration. This venture has generated significant buzz and controversy, quickly achieving a multi-billion dollar market capitalization.

The launch highlights Trump’s growing embrace of cryptocurrency, his willingness to blur the lines between public office and private financial interests, and the speculative nature of the crypto market. It has also raised ethical concerns and drawn both praise and criticism from within the crypto community.

The rapid rise in value has also had a positive impact on Solana, which has emerged as a leader in the meme coin space.

Key Themes and Facts -- 

Official Meme Coin Launch:

• Trump launched $TRUMP on Friday night alongside a “Crypto Ball” in Washington D.C., through the Trump Organization affiliate, CIC Digital LLC, and Fight Fight Fight LLC.
• The coin is marketed as "the only official Trump meme," distinguishing it from other unofficial Trump-themed cryptocurrencies.
• Trump announced the launch via his social media platforms, Truth Social and X, stating, "My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!"
• The meme coin is based on an image of Trump from the July assassination attempt. “President Trump faced death and came up fighting!” the website promoting the tokens says.
• The token is promoted with the slogan, “Join the Trump Community. This is History in the Making!”

Rapid Market Cap Growth:

• The coin saw a significant price surge overnight, with the price initially surging 600% to over $30 per coin and briefly reaching a market cap of over $32 billion. The cap fell to nearly $6 billion by Saturday morning according to CoinMarketCap.com but had gained again to over $5 billion according to CoinGecko.
• The rapid appreciation demonstrates the speculative and volatile nature of the crypto market, particularly meme coins.
• "It also speaks to the nature of the crypto industry that someone could have $25 billion worth of something that literally did not exist 24 hours previously." - Axios
• The value surge is linked to Trump's name recognition and the timing of the launch prior to his inauguration.

Financial Stake and Control:

• CIC Digital and related entities own 80% of the total $TRUMP coin supply.
• These holdings are subject to a three-year unlocking schedule, preventing an immediate "dump" of coins.
• "A disclosure on the website selling the tokens says that CIC Digital and its affiliates own 80 percent of the supply of the new Trump tokens that will be released gradually over the coming three years and that they will be paid “trading revenue” as the tokens are sold." - NYT
• The ownership structure raises questions about Trump and his family's potential profits from the coin's sales and trading.
• 10% of the supply is publicly available and 10% is held in liquidity. The total supply will grow from 200 million to 1 billion over the next three years.

Ethical Concerns:

• Ethics experts have criticized the move as a blatant effort by Trump to profit from his position as President-elect.
• Adav Noti of the Campaign Legal Center stated, “It is literally cashing in on the presidency — creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president’s family in connection with his office...It is beyond unprecedented.”
• The launch blurs the lines between Trump’s government role and his continued business endeavo