Melania Trump Launches Cryptocurrency Ahead of Donald Trump’s Inauguration

New first lady Melania Trump flipped her own coin ahead of her husband’s inauguration as 47^th President of the United States on Monday.

In a post on social media platform X on Sunday evening, she announced that investors “can buy $MELANIA now.”

The Melania token was trading at $11.16 as of 10:48 a.m. London time on Monday, up more than 50%, according to CoinMarketCap data. Its market capitalization is $2.15 billion.

New President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated for the second time on Monday, also launched his own coin — a cryptocurrency that draws inspiration from online communities and Internet memes — through the Solana Blockchain network on Friday. On Monday, the “Official Trump” coin was down 20% to trade at $53.74 as of 10:53 a.m. London time, according to CoinMarketCap.

Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency was the largest coin in the Solana network by market capitalization as of 10:35 a.m. London time, according to CoinGecko data, with Melania Trump’s token in fourth place at the time .

In a disclaimer on the coin’s official website, potential buyers are informed that Melania memes “are digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support and commitment to the values ​​embodied by the MELANIA symbol . and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract or security of any kind.

On the Trump Token website, the cryptocurrency – depicted with an image of Trump raising his fist in the air – is touted as “a piece of history”, while Trump himself is referred to as a “crypto president “.

Trump, who has publicly taken a pro-cryptocurrency stance in the past and reportedly plans to issue an executive order making digital assets a national priority, has promised to release 1 billion “official Trump” tokens over the next few years. next three years. At least 200 million of this volume of coins entered circulation during the initial release of the token.

Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at Conotoxia, said in emailed comments Monday that investors should exercise caution when buying assets such as Trump’s cryptocurrencies.

“Even cryptocurrencies like these are subject to large fluctuations and we generally view them as speculative assets,” he said. “The tokens released by Donald and Melania Trump appear to symbolize support for the digital currency industry. However, the introduction of these coins during the presidential inauguration raises concerns about possible conflicts of interest.”

Representatives for Donald and Melania Trump were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

As a whole, cryptocurrencies can be volatile. Bitcoin, the most valuable digital coin in the world, has been known to rise or fall by thousands of dollars in a single day. Alternative coins, or “altcoins,” like Ether and XRP have proven even more prone to fluctuations.

Tokens can be generated by anyone with an internet connection. In 2021, a token based on the hit series “Squid Game” rallied hugely following the hype surrounding the series – only to lose virtually all of its value, costing some investors tens of thousands of dollars.

After Sunday’s launch of the “Melania” token, the president-elect’s “Official Trump” coin briefly crashed by as much as 40%, according to analysts at The Kobeissi Letter in an article published Sunday on X.

— CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.