News | National
15 Feb 2025 23:23
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > National

    The $Trump memecoin is reaping billions – but like the man himself, it’s extremely volatile

    Even by Trump standards, it is extraordinary that an incoming president would create such a large conflict of interest just before assuming office.

    John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra
    The Conversation


    Freshly elected US president Donald Trump has exercised his usual degree of modesty and named his newly launched cryptocurrency or memecoin, $Trump.

    And like the man himself, the coin’s price is extraordinarily volatile. The price ran up to US$75, fell below $60, went back to $75, fell below $40, then rose back to $60 and had fallen to $31 at the time of writing. And this was just in two days.

    It has now been joined by a $Melania coin, promoted by his wife.

    Donald Trump was not a success at running businesses. His wealth was mostly due to what he was given by his father.


    Read more: A new book reveals much of Trump's success is based on a myth he is a self-made billionaire


    But he may now have found a way of monetising his fame. Ironically it is using a cryptocurrency, the leading example of which he has described as a “scam”.

    Even by Trump standards, it is quite extraordinary that an incoming president would create such a large conflict of interest days before assuming office.

    What are memecoins?

    While the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has failed in this goal, it was at least created with the idea that it would have a use as a payments instrument.


    Read more: Almost no one uses Bitcoin as currency, new data proves. It's actually more like gambling


    Memecoins by contrast do not even pretend to have any potential use. They are purely speculative tokens.

    Probably the best known memecoin is Dogecoin. It was originally created as a joke. Its Australian co-creator described it as a “piss take”.

    But supportive tweets by Elon Musk, who once called it the “people’s crypto” have led to spurts in its price. DOGE is even the acronym of the agency Musk will be running for Trump; the Department Of Government Efficiency. In 2021 its price went from less than 1 US cent to almost 60 cents. It is now 35 cents.

    The 100 largest cryptocurrencies include memecoins such as Shiba Inu (named after the dog breed featured on the Doge internet meme), Pepe (named after a cartoon frog), Bonk, Fartcoin and Floki (named after Musk’s dog).

    Many memecoins are part of “pump and dump” schemes. These involve the coin creators talking them up and then quickly selling, leaving the buyers with worthless coins.

    What does “market capitalisation” mean?

    You may have seen claims that $Trump is “worth” around US$7 billion, Fartcoin US$2 billion and $Melania around US$1 billion. What does this actually mean?

    Melania's meme coin was launched on Melania Trump's X account
    Melania’s meme coin was launched on Melania Trump’s X account. The Conversation, CC BY-SA

    It is a reference to the so-called market capitalisation. $Trump’s peaked at US$15 billion, but is currently US$7 billion. To put the US$8 billion drop into context, it is equivalent to around half the value of large Australian companies like Coles and Santos.

    These reported market capitalisations need to be interpreted with some caution.

    They are calculated analogously with those for shares of listed companies. So, for example, Australia’s largest company, the Commonwealth Bank, currently has around 1.7 billion shares on issue and they are trading at around A$150 so the market capitalisation is around A$250 billion.

    But that does not mean if every shareholder wanted to sell today they would collectively get A$250 billion. Once a large number of shareholders start selling, the share price would drop by a lot. Only the first sellers would achieve the current price.

    At least there is a very large and liquid market for listed shares in large companies. They have a fundamental basis in solid profits they have earned and they have a balance sheet with assets. This is not the case with memecoins, which neither make profits nor have any underlying assets.

    Furthermore, unlike a large traded company, creating a new coin is not that difficult. A 13-year-old child reportedly made A$46,000 by creating one.

    But if you create 100 million coins, and I buy one for $10, does this really mean your coin is worth $1 billion?

    Buyer beware

    $Trump’s own website includes a disclaimer noting $Trump is not “an investment opportunity” nor “a security”.

    If you are thinking about gambling on it, don’t say you were not warned.

    The Conversation

    John Hawkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
    © 2025 TheConversation, NZCity

     Other National News
     15 Feb: Violence and protests at Auckland Pride events yesterday
     15 Feb: Two people have been taken to hospital after they were seriously injured by a dog in Auckland's Manurewa
     15 Feb: A large vegetation fire is still burning at Canterbury's Lewis Pass Road at Island Hills
     15 Feb: South Waikato's council is aiming to promote growth in the area despite paper production ending at Tokoroa's Kinleith Mill
     15 Feb: Hamilton's proven to be a happy hunting ground for the Warriors, as a first-half blitz fuelled a 36-10 win over the Storm
     15 Feb: Auckland FC intend to make up for the biggest blip in their debut A-League men's season when they take on Western United in Melbourne tonight
     15 Feb: The New Zealand Warriors have wrapped up an unbeaten pre-season with today's impressive 36-10 win over the Melbourne Storm in Hamilton
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    The Brumbies have won a see-sawing Super Rugby Pacific contest in Suva, beating the Fijian Drua 36-32 More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    South Waikato's council is aiming to promote growth in the area despite paper production ending at Tokoroa's Kinleith Mill More...



     Today's News

    Law and Order:
    Violence and protests at Auckland Pride events yesterday 22:26

    Law and Order:
    Two people have been taken to hospital after they were seriously injured by a dog in Auckland's Manurewa 21:56

    Christchurch:
    A large vegetation fire is still burning at Canterbury's Lewis Pass Road at Island Hills 20:36

    Business:
    South Waikato's council is aiming to promote growth in the area despite paper production ending at Tokoroa's Kinleith Mill 20:26

    International:
    Drone attack on Chernobyl nuclear plant casts shadow over peace prospects 19:56

    Rugby:
    The Brumbies have won a see-sawing Super Rugby Pacific contest in Suva, beating the Fijian Drua 36-32 18:56

    Rugby League:
    Hamilton's proven to be a happy hunting ground for the Warriors, as a first-half blitz fuelled a 36-10 win over the Storm 18:36

    Soccer:
    Auckland FC intend to make up for the biggest blip in their debut A-League men's season when they take on Western United in Melbourne tonight 18:06

    Rugby League:
    The New Zealand Warriors have wrapped up an unbeaten pre-season with today's impressive 36-10 win over the Melbourne Storm in Hamilton 17:46

    Rugby:
    No complacency from All Blacks left wing Caleb Clarke as he looks to build on a standout 2024 rugby campaign 16:56


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd