Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania have each launched their own cryptocurrency ahead of the inauguration that’s scheduled to take place today (Jan. 20).
Both “Trump Coin” and “Melania Coin” have no underlying value and are being referred to by analysts as “meme coins.”
The Melania Coin’s website says that the cryptocurrency is “not a financial instrument or investment” and is meant for “collecting and entertainment purposes only.”
That said, a frenzy has greeted the launch of the Trump Coin in recent days, with the crypto peaking at over $75 U.S. per digital token.
Trump Coin has proven to be extremely volatile coming out of the gate, falling to $40 U.S. in a matter of hours before rising again to $63 U.S. and then dropping to $55 U.S.
Trump Coin’s valuation per available supply is currently at about $11 billion U.S., making it one of the top 20 meme coins, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Melania Coin’s valuation sits at $2 billion U.S. per available supply. Analysts say that Melania Coin appears to have been quickly launched over the weekend after Trump Coin took off.
And it appears that other members of the Trump family might also launch their own cryptocurrencies.
The Trump family’s World Liberty crypto project has purchased domain names for digital tokens under the names “Eric Trump” and “Barron Trump,” two of the president’s sons.
Some analysts and market observers are cautioning against the launch of the Trump and Melania Coins, saying they could represent a “jump the shark” moment for the crypto sector.
Wilson Wang, founder of the blog HFI Research, said that the crypto sector looks like it is about to “spiral out of control.”
Other analysts say that a crypto bubble could be about to burst. However, Bitcoin is currently trading at $108,000 U.S. on Trump’s inauguration day, near its record high.
