'A Mockery Of Bitcoin': Crypto Goes Wild Over $TRUMP Official Memecoin, Bitcoiners Decry Betrayal

Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated today as the 47^th President of the United States, launched his official memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), which skyrocketed above $70 within a day.

Many cryptocurrency users were thrilled with the meme token's launch, especially "degen" traders who often engage in very high-risk and speculative crypto assets. However, a growing number of Bitcoiners are expressing dismay over the development.

Trump Launches $TRUMP, Breaks Top 20

The TRUMP token was launched late Friday, and within hours, the memecoin already made it to the Top 20 of CoinGecko's list of largest crypto assets by market cap.

The memecoin has since toned down and by late Sunday, was trading at around $47, seemingly affected by the launch of incoming First Lady Melania Trump's own memecoin, Melania Meme (MELANIA).

"It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!" Trump wrote on his X account to announce the meme token's launch.

Eric Trump also took to X to support his father's crypto endeavor. "I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. $Trump is currently the hottest digital meme on earth and I truly believe @WorldLibertyFi will revolutionize DeFi/Cefi and will be the future of finance," he wrote.

Amid the weekend celebrations ahead of Monday's presidential inauguration, there's been a wild pushback from other crypto users and Bitcoiners who believe Trump is doing his crypto embrace the wrong way.

Concerns Rise Over $TRUMP's Impact on $BTC

When Trump's sons co-founded DeFi project World Liberty Financial, there were already questions on whether the family really wanted to support Bitcoin and the broader crypto space or just make money off of the burgeoning sector.

This time, there are concerns about the supposed 80% control that Trump and his inner circle has on the TRUMP memecoin and allegations that individuals who had "insider knowledge" about the token's launch "cashed out millions."

Social media personality Brian Krassenstein, known for his commentaries against Trump, asked Bitcoin holders how they feel. He also revealed that he has been holding BTC since 2011.

"What do all the Bitcoiners who backed Trump think of this? Be honest. If your goal is to unite the country around Bitcoin this is the exact opposite of what you should want," he said.

BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey, who was among the prominent Bitcoiners that backed Trump's 2024 campaign, said he believes the development is "good for Bitcoin, bad for Trump," but also understands that many BTC holders are "fairly emotional about it right now."

He went on to note that "it's just noise," suggesting that Bitcoin won't be affected much by the turn of events.

Federation of Bitcoin Circular Economies (FBCE) Coordinator Scott Wolfe blasted the memecoin as "a total scam." He also called out the incoming president for having had the opportunity "to heal and rebuild America with/through Bitcoin" but he went for "peddling a memecoin to the very same people you were elected to help."

Investment manager Michael A. Gayed said, "Trump has made a mockery of Bitcoin" following his TRUMP memecoin's launch, seemingly referring to how Trump "pumped" BTC during the Bitcoin conference in Nashville last year, only to end up launching his own coin.

Prominent Bitcoin journalist Pete Rizzo had a few words to seemingly calm the BTC community down. "Reminder: $MELANIA and $TRUMP are both going to $0 against #Bitcoin," he wrote.

It remains to be seen whether the TRUMP token will come close to challenging Bitcoin's dominance in the future, but for now, its $9 billion market cap is probably years too early for the king of crypto's $2 trillion market value.