On January 18, 2025, former U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his personal cryptocurrency, named “TRUMP.” The token, priced at $0.1824 (approximately ¥1.34), quickly gained the market's attention. Within just 12 hours, its price surged by more than 15,000%, reaching approximately $30 (around ¥219.76). The token’s rapid price increase resulted in a market capitalization of $32 billion (roughly ¥2.34 trillion), surpassing well-known cryptocurrencies like TRON, Avalanche, Chainlink, and Shiba Inu, signaling its strong performance in the market.

The launch of TRUMP was akin to a bombshell for the cryptocurrency world. As the TRUMP coin is based on the Solana blockchain, its explosive trading activity has boosted the overall activity and trading volume on the Solana network. On January 19, the price of Solana’s native token, SOL, surged past $290, setting a new all-time high. Additionally, decentralized exchanges (DEX) in the Solana ecosystem, such as Jupiter and Raydium, benefitted from the TRUMP coin trading frenzy, seeing a sharp increase in trading volume and user engagement.

The Moonshot platform became one of the top financial applications on the U.S. Apple App Store following the launch of TRUMP, attracting more than 400,000 new users within 24 hours. This ecosystem effect has further cemented Solana's position as an emerging platform for token issuance, creating a positive feedback loop and encouraging more projects to choose Solana as their launch platform.

As the TRUMP coin skyrocketed, the importance of decentralized exchanges (DEX) became increasingly evident. Many investors believe that the future of the cryptocurrency market will be more reliant on blockchain-based communities rather than traditional centralized exchanges (CEX). This shift could accelerate during the current bull market and deepen further during Trump’s tenure. In fact, the popularity of TRUMP has led major CEX platforms to react quickly, with exchanges like OKX, Coinbase, and Binance listing TRUMP on January 19, driving its price to $80.

The launch of TRUMP has sparked widespread attention and optimism within the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies saw significant price fluctuations after the TRUMP coin’s introduction. For example, Bitcoin quickly surged past $105,000 on January 18 before retreating slightly. Meanwhile, the market capitalization of TRUMP soared past $8 billion, making it the center of attention.

However, TRUMP’s volatility has also raised concerns about market uncertainty. After a massive price increase, TRUMP experienced a downturn due to changes in market sentiment. Shortly after its release, TRUMP’s price had risen by over 80%, but then Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies underwent notable corrections.

Some observers have cautiously expressed optimism about Trump’s involvement in the crypto market. They believe that his presence brings unprecedented attention to the industry, potentially driving its development. However, as a meme coin, TRUMP’s price is highly susceptible to market sentiment, and should interest in Trump or investor enthusiasm wane, its price could plummet.

Arthur Hayes, a veteran in the crypto industry, commented that TRUMP’s launch signals the beginning of the political meme coin market. Any politician unafraid of public opinion could potentially launch their own meme coin. While the economic fundamentals of such coins are often dubious, they may still target a market capitalization of $100 billion.

Venture capitalist Chris Burniske has expressed a positive view of TRUMP, despite concerns about the token's distribution method. He sees substantial potential for future innovation. TRUMP’s success has injected new vitality into the cryptocurrency market and attracted fresh users. As the market evolves, the TRUMP coin incident could become a key marker in the industry's changing landscape.

The risk of regulatory intervention looms large. The regulation of virtual currencies has been controversial and ever-changing on a global scale. TRUMP is likely to become a focal point for regulatory scrutiny. Should regulations tighten in the future, its trading and circulation could face restrictions or even potential bans.

While the launch of TRUMP has sparked a frenzy in the market, criticism has also been persistent. Experts in the cryptocurrency field have questioned the legitimacy of TRUMP, suggesting it could be a carefully orchestrated scam.

Following the release of TRUMP, Trump and his inner circle have had significant opportunities to cash out. Trump himself is estimated to have directly profited $15 billion from the issuance. Such massive financial gains inevitably raise questions about how he may have leveraged his influence and credibility as a former U.S. president.

Trump's decision to launch the cryptocurrency just two days before entering the White House seems calculated to circumvent legal restrictions that prohibit government officials from engaging in business activities. This raises concerns about his ability to separate business interests from his leadership role and calls into question his commitment to his “Make America Great Again” agenda.

Nick Tomaino, founder of 1confirmation, analyzed the TRUMP incident, noting that the shift from Biden's anti-crypto stance to Trump's pro-crypto approach is refreshing. However, he criticized Trump for launching TRUMP just hours before his inauguration and holding 80% of the token supply. This, he believes, is predatory behavior that could harm many people. Tomaino argued that Trump should have distributed the tokens to the public through an airdrop rather than using the opportunity to enrich himself and his team. At present, TRUMP bears similarities to a token issued by FTX.

Furthermore, the method of issuance has raised concerns about conflicts of interest. Trump’s business ventures, including DeFi projects like World Liberty Financial, golf clubs and resorts, hotels and real estate, media companies, profit-generating sneakers, and NFTs, could all involve risks of violating conflict-of-interest principles.

Qiao Wang, founder of Alliance DAO, criticized the way TRUMP was issued, stating that while it might be cool for a president to release a meme coin, distributing 80% of the supply to insiders fundamentally alters its nature.

Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project on Government Oversight, emphasized that meme coins are typically detached from any underlying business and carry extreme speculation risks for investors, but may yield significant profits for founders. Such actions blur the line between politics and business. Other concerned groups include the non-profit Campaign Legal Center and the Washington-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

TRUMP’s success underscores that the cryptocurrency market is entering a more diverse and complex era. The key challenge for the future will be finding a balance between innovation and regulation, including addressing regulatory risks, market volatility, and expanding real-world applications. As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve, whether TRUMP can maintain its market position in the long run remains to be seen.