News | National
17 Feb 2025 8:12
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
     17 Feb: An Auckland Councillor is concerned at what she's calling a heartbreaking increase in homelessness
     17 Feb: Police are asking for witnesses to an assault which left someone with critical injuries in Wellington over the weekend
     17 Feb: Specialist fire investigators are working to establish the origin and cause of a fire in a multi-storey building in Wellington
     16 Feb: One person has serious injuries after a crash which has closed State Highway 2 at Tutira in Hawke's Bay
     16 Feb: Wellington Phoenix women's coach Paul Temple believes winning tonight's A-League clash against the Glory in Perth is vital for their play-off hopes
     16 Feb: Labour's Leader has labelled anti-LGBTQ protests 'pathetic'
     16 Feb: Taranaki has enjoyed its first successful defence of cricket's Hawke Cup since 1995
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson believes Joe Schmidt won't be lost to Australian rugby when he steps down as head coach at the end of the Rugby Championship More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    An Auckland Councillor is concerned at what she's calling a heartbreaking increase in homelessness More...



     Today's News

    International:
    US and Israel talk up 'common strategy' as Gaza ceasefire holds 8:07

    Basketball:
    South East Melbourne have overturned a 21-point third quarter deficit to beat Adelaide 85-75 in their Australian basketball play-off match 8:07

    Business:
    An Auckland Councillor is concerned at what she's calling a heartbreaking increase in homelessness 7:57

    Politics:
    David Seymour says his teachers-only day comments were an overlap - but not an overstep 7:47

    Law and Order:
    Police are asking for witnesses to an assault which left someone with critical injuries in Wellington over the weekend 7:47

    Motorsports:
    Shane van Gisbergen is being tipped to finish high on his Daytona 500 debut 7:37

    Business:
    A reminder for New Zealanders to take a good look at their KiwiSaver investments 7:27

    Golf:
    Golfer Danny Lee will return to the New Zealand Open for the first time as a professional 7:17

    Accident and Emergency:
    A motorcyclist is critically injured, after crashing on the South Island's Arthurs Pass 6:37

    Environment:
    Specialist fire investigators are working to establish the origin and cause of a fire in a multi-storey building in Wellington 5:57


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd