More than 80% of investors in meme coins (virtual currencies that surge and plummet in price based on trends) of U.S. President Donald Trump have experienced losses. Ahead of President Trump's inauguration, there was a flood of investment demand driven by positive expectations about virtual currencies and hopes for industry activation, but the volatility of meme coins ultimately led to unavoidable losses.
On the 8th (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported that "about 67,000 cryptocurrency investors invested in Trump's meme coin business, but the results so far are disastrous," noting that "most of them bought the meme coin to express their loyalty to Trump or to gain early participation opportunities in the new financial venture of the Trump family."
$TRUMP is the only official Trump meme coin, with 80% of the coin's supply held by Trump Group affiliate CIC Digital LLC (CIC Digital LLC) and its subsidiaries. $TRUMP was launched at about $6 (approximately 8,000 won) on January 17, just before President Trump's inauguration, and at one point surged to $75 (approximately 105,000 won), but has now settled in the $11 to $12 range.
According to analyzed data by WP, approximately 67,000 investors purchased the Trump meme coin, $TRUMP, through the cryptocurrency payment platform MoonPay. The total investment amount of so-called "ant investors" (small individual investors) in meme coins reached $15 million (approximately 2.12 billion won), of which 80% have confirmed to have sustained significant losses.
In particular, investors who purchased coins using debit cards invested an average of $100 (approximately 140,000 won) and are estimated to have incurred a loss of about $62 (approximately 90,000 won). Most bought the coins when the price peaked right after the launch of the meme coin. An investor who invested $10,000 (approximately 14 million won) reportedly lost more than 80% of their investment, amounting to about $8,000 (approximately 11.2 million won), according to WP.
This is in stark contrast to the Trump family, which has made substantial profits from meme coins. According to WP, citing cryptocurrency data platform Flipside, the Trump family has pocketed about $43 million (approximately 6.06 billion won) in transaction fees since the launch of meme coins and has gained about $312 million (approximately 440.2 billion won) in revenue from meme coin sales.
WP noted, "These losses illustrate the inherent risks for Trump supporters and cryptocurrency investors betting on Trump's deregulation, who self-identify as 'the first cryptocurrency president,'" adding that "(investors) stand in stark contrast to Trump, who has earned millions of dollars in transaction fees even as the value of the meme coin has fallen."
Despite the price drop, investors are moving to buy $TRUMP. President Trump announced last month that he plans to have dinner with the top 220 holders of $TRUMP, after which the top buyers acquired additional meme coins worth approximately $225 million (approximately 316.9 billion won). WP reported that about half of the top 220 $TRUMP buyers purchased coins from Binance, which does not accept U.S. customers, indicating that many high-value investors are likely not American.
Unlike President Trump, who is promoting meme coins, U.S. financial authorities are warning about the risks of meme coins. Last February, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that most meme coins have limited usability or functions or none at all, noting that "due to their speculative nature, price volatility is high."