Key Insights
- 23 April marked the Trump team posting an announcement on the $TRUMP website, inviting the top 220 holders of the memecoin to a private dinner.
- This dinner will be with the President himself at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.
- The announcement caused a 60% price increase in TRUMP within hours, pushing the cryptocurrency to around $14.32.
- Earlier along the line, Trump publicly criticized crypto, calling them “valueless” and “based on thin air”.
- Now, analysts believe that Trump’s pivot is largely strategic, as the US president wants to position himself as a champion of innovation
The crypto industry has seen a fresh blend of political clout and crypto hype this week, with US president Donald Trump and the official $TRUMP memecoin.
Here’s how this memecoin jumped in price recently, after slumping by more than 90% from its yearly high.
Donald Trump has just announced a private dinner for the top 220 token holders, and here’s how this event is turning out to be far more than a mere dinner invite.
A Gala Dinner That Moved the Market
On 23 April, Trump’s team posted an announcement on the $TRUMP website.
Per the announcement, the top 220 holders of the memecoin will be invited to a private dinner with the President himself at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.
This isn’t all. The top 25 holders of this token will also enjoy an “ultra-exclusive” reception and a guided White House tour.
The announcement caused a staggering 60% price increase in TRUMP within hours, pushing the cryptocurrency to around $14.32 before leveling out slightly at $12.50. The memecoin’s trading volume has also exxplided as well, to over 500% and a figure of more than $5 billion in just 24 hours.
For some context, this memecoin was launched in January and reached a new high of over $74 before falling sharply in price underneath the $10 price level.
From Skeptic to Crypto Cheerleader
Trump’s recent embrace of crypto is a strong shift in stance from his previous skepticism.
Earlier along the line, he publicly criticized crypto, calling them “valueless” and “based on thin air”.
However, in the years before his recent campaign, the now-President not only launched multiple NFT trading cards, he also changed his tone during and after his elections.
Trump now refers to himself as the “crypto president,” and has signed several executive orders in favor of the industry.
The order to establish both a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile have also gone live, with both of these initiatives set to be filled with coins seized by the US government in legal cases.
Trump has also formed a presidential working group to shape new crypto regulations, in a major indicator that the US president is serious about the crypto sector.
Analysts believe that Trump’s pivot is largely strategic, as the US president wants to position himself as a champion of innovation, especially among younger, tech-savvy members of the crypto community
A New Level of Political Marketing
It is hard to see this move as anything other than a major move in political marketing.
Trump is so far tying real-world access to memecoins and crypto in general.
This kind of value is bound to go far beyond the token’s status as a memecoin, and increase its utility.
The campaign slogan so far, has been “Let the President know how many $TRUMP you own!”
$TRUMP as a memecoin, is now tapping into human psychology and attempting to take advantage of exclusivity.
So far, the blending of politics and specilative assets is the first of many.
And for many, $TRUMP goes far beyond the technology behind Solana or memecoins in general.
It is about the narrative and the “exclusivity” it promises.
Ethics and the Fine Line
Unsurprisingly, this marketing tactic has seen its fair share of criticism.
Ethics watchdogs and political opponents have argued that Trump is blurring the line between his position in a public office and personal profit.
While Trump isn’t directly selling the coin, business entities linked to his family name reportedly hold large reserves of crypto and even collect transaction fees.
According to a recent report from January, the Trump venture had already earned close to $100 million from $TRUMP’s early trading activity.
Trump is now making decisions that affect the crypto industry, and critics are warning about a conflict of interest.
His regulatory decisions could (even unintentionally) affect assets like TRUMP and further blur the lines between personal gain and responsibility.
The ongoing collaboration between crypto and political office has never been tested in the US, and there is some ongoing confusion as to whether this is just smart branding or trouble waiting to happen.
Celebrity Coins and the Volatility of Hype
Memecoins are nothing new. The often rely on social momentum for their value, with Dogecoin and Elon Musk’s relationship between 2020 and 2021 being a prime example.
$TRUMP appears to be playing by the same rulebook, except that this project takes things a step further by making its marketing political.
Still, investors must take the volatile nature of these assets into consideration.
While the price of the memecoin has surged by this much from a mere tweet, how long can the momentum last?
What happens when the hype dies down or the event passes?
ETFs, Truth Social and What Comes Next
Trump’s crypto push doesn’t’ just stop at $TRUMP. His media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, recently announced plans to launch ETFs focused on digital assets and American-made companies.
These financial products could further improve his brand’s presence in the financial and political spaces.
Overall, whether genius branding or a dangerous mix of politics and speculation, there is no denying that crypto is currently undergoing a massive shift in the US and other parts of the world.
For now, all eyes remain on the 220 investors on their way to the white house.
Until the dinner happens, all eyes remain on the $TRUMP memecoin and how its price could perform in the coming weeks.
