Insider trading allegations surface as TRUMP memecoin floods Solana DEXs

Suspicious trading activity has emerged around Donald Trump’s Solana-based memecoin TRUMP as its market capitalization soared to $42 billion, attracting a frenzy among retail investors.

On January 18, Bubblemaps, an on-chain analytics company, investigated a crypto wallet funded with $1 million four hours before the launch of the TRUMP token.

Onchain data reveals that the wallet purchased $5.9 million worth of TRUMP tokens in the first minute of its launch, then sold $20 million while retaining $96 million in tokens. TRUMP tokens were then routed through one wallet and distributed to 10 other wallets, which are now actively selling on the Solana decentralized exchanges (DEX).

This trading structure has sparked concerns about possible market manipulation, as TRUMP’s memecoin continues to make headlines.

Preetam Rao, CEO of QuillAudits, a Web3 security company, expressed concerns regarding the structure and allocation purpose of the TRUMP token.

“Eighty percent of the supply is locked for CIC Digital, a company owned by the Donald Trump Revocable Trust. This is the same entity that launched Trump NFT trading cards three years ago. The website says it is “not an investment but a show of support,” Rao said.

Rao noted that the top 10 holders hold 89.06% of the supply and there is no clarity on the depletion status of the liquidity pool. “Interestingly, the token was launched in an Asian morning time zone. It feels like it’s just a way for Trump to make money,” he said.

He told Cointelegraph:

“We can see some insiders involved, but my impression is that the US government is supporting projects to establish a roadmap for innovation in the country. It may be a simple attempt, but it lays the foundation for innovation. »

Related: How Did Donald Trump Handle Crypto During His First Term?

TRUMP memecoin goes mainstream

The popularity of the token increased when major crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance announced the listing of TRUMP.

According to CoinGecko, TRUMP trading saw significant activity over the past 24 hours, with Bitget leading with $864.9 million, followed by MEXC with $842.7 million and KuCoin with $445.2 million. . At the time of writing, TRUMP is up 194% in the last 24 hours, trading at $54.62.

During this time, the Solana ecosystem saw a massive increase in activity. Solana’s largest DEX, Raydium, generated $25.07 million in fees and $2.85 million in revenue – a record for the platform, according to DefiLlama.

MEME trading tool GMGN processed $153 million in Solana trades, earning $1.52 million in fees. Crypto trading platform Moonshot recorded $1.597 million in fees.

Moonshot processed nearly $400 million in volume over the past 12 hours, breaking fiat on-ramps usage records and attracting over 200,000 new users to the chain.

Amid the hype, some on X have speculated about a potential “American play” as their next project. Eric Trump denied these rumors, specifying that no project of this type was in development.

Related: Traders pocket millions as Trump team confirms launch of memecoin Solana

Bitcoiners criticize Trump’s memecoin launch

The Bitcoin community reacted strongly to Trump’s Solana-based memecoin, calling it opportunistic and fundamentally at odds with Bitcoin’s principles.

Brandon Quittem, VP of Revenue at Swan Bitcoin, posted on X: “The Trump coin is such an extreme case of crap that it will ultimately help further differentiate Bitcoin. Trumpcoin is a get-rich-quick scheme, it has nothing to do with Bitcoin.

Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Riot Platforms, pointed out that Bitcoin’s design is fundamentally different.

Will Cole, Bitcoin advocate and product manager at Zaprite, called memecoin a “pump and dump as a service.” Wealth transfer from Generation Z and Millennials to Baby Boomers. Brought to you by Ethereum and Solana.

Review: 5 Real Use Cases of Useless Memecoins