Dem
47
GOP
53
On Jan. 17, 2025, Donald Trump launched the $TRUMP crypto coin. He kept $800 million for himself and his buddies and put the other $200 million worth up for sale. People couldn't wait to get one or two or a whole bunch. The high point in the first 24 hours was $73.00, but still an obvious bargain since owning $TRUMP coins was sure to make you a millionaire, fast.
On Saturday, the 297 largest holders of $TRUMP coins got a special reward: They were invited to visit Mar-a-Lago. The top 29 even got a special VIP reception to meet Donald Trump personally. The people who bought the coin on Day 1 directly from Trump were putting money directly in Trump's pocket. The people who bought it from them on the secondary market were not.
Trump spoke to the cryptocrowd and said "Crypto is a big industry." That is true. It is even bigger than the Nigerian Prince industry. Initially, Trump was skeptical of crypto, but later he got involved himself and came to embrace it.
So, how have the early buyers of the $TRUMP coin fared? About what you might have expected. They were totally fleeced. Here is the price of the coin since its creation:
The coin has dropped from its
high
of $73.00 to Friday's close of $2.20, a loss of $97% of its value since the top. If you bought $10,000 of $TRUMP at its
high point, your "investment" would now be worth $300. Congratulations on your investment prowess. Maybe you are the
next Warren Buffet. The performance of the $TRUMP coin is even
worse
than the deal the buyers of DJT stock got from its high point. It lost a mere 90.2% of its value. Trump stock and Trump
crypto are enormously profitable, but unfortunately only for Trump and his buddies who get it for free. For the
rubes investors, not so much. But if you bought some way back when, you can be proud of helping Trump get $1
billion richer by fleecing his supporters.
However, there is one thing we don't know. Has Trump already dumped most of his stash of $TRUMP coins? Maybe he has and that is why the price is now so low—a massive supply of product out there. On the other hand, maybe he was too busy to pay attention or was waiting for the price to go up. If the latter is the case and he still has most of the coins, then he took as much of a haircut as his fans. (V)