Major cryptocurrency exchanges moved unusually fast to list President Donald Trump’s meme coin, $TRUMP, raising questions about vetting standards and investor protection.
Eight of the ten largest exchanges listed the token within 48 hours of its launch, much faster than the average 129-day wait for other large meme coins.
The $TRUMP token, launched three days before Trump’s January inauguration, reached a peak of $75.35 two days later before falling to around $7 in early April. It was trading at about $9.55 on Thursday.
Its market capitalization dropped from over $15 billion to about $1.9 billion, but it remains among the largest meme coins launched since 2022.
Coinbase added the coin to its listings roadmap on January 18 and made it available for trading three days later. Most other top exchanges also made the token available within days.
This was despite 80% of the coin’s supply being controlled by Trump and his partners, a level of concentration that can allow insiders to trigger price crashes by selling in large amounts.
The fast listings followed strong demand from traders, but also came as regulators eased crypto enforcement under Trump’s new administration. The Securities and Exchange Commission has paused or dropped several enforcement actions and issued a statement concluding that meme coins are not securities.
Trump’s administration has taken a favourable stance toward crypto. Since his election, his family has launched multiple crypto projects and earned hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. The $TRUMP token alone brought in an estimated $320 million in fees, though it’s unclear how that money was split between Trump and his partners.
The token’s trading has benefited exchanges, generating over $172 million in fees. Trading patterns show that 45 wallets made around $1.2 billion in profits, while more than 700,000 wallets lost about $4.3 billion.
Another 500,000 wallets saw average profits of about $5,600.
Concerns about meme coin risks were raised just before $TRUMP’s release. On January 16, the New York State Department of Financial Services warned consumers about meme coins and noted that many are held in concentrated hands, making them prone to manipulation and pump-and-dump schemes.
Coinbase, which operates under New York regulations, blocked state residents from accessing $TRUMP due to licensing requirements. Other exchanges continued with listings despite similar risks.
The White House said Trump’s assets are placed in a family trust and that he is not involved in managing them. It said there are no conflicts of interest, but referred specific questions about the token to the Trump Organization, which did not respond.
