Trump Family Memecoins Face Sharp Declines After Initial Surge; $70 Million Lost in Futures Liquidations
The launch of the official memecoins of U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania has triggered a frenzy in the cryptocurrency market, but investors are now facing significant losses.
TRUMP and MELANIA tokens have seen steep declines of up to 60% in the last 24 hours as profit-taking surged following President Trump’s inauguration. Futures tied to these tokens have also performed poorly, with nearly $70 million in liquidation losses for traders who had bet on rising prices.
Despite the high volatility, these tokens are not lightly traded. TRUMP, for example, recorded over $19 billion in trading volume over a 24-hour period, while MELANIA saw $4.5 billion exchange hands. In contrast, major cryptocurrencies like Tron’s TRX and Cardano’s ADA saw volumes under $4 billion during the same period, underscoring the significant interest in the Trump family-themed tokens.
However, buying volumes have stalled in line with declining prices. On the trading platform Moonshot, which was among the first to offer TRUMP to retail investors, a Dune dashboard by @Seoulcalibur.eth shows volumes dropping from an average of over $6 million on January 18 to just over $1 million in the past 24 hours.
Crypto markets had anticipated that President Trump might mention crypto-related policies in his inaugural speech, such as the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, but the lack of such remarks led to a drop in Bitcoin’s price from a high of over $109,000 on Monday to just above $101,000 during Asian morning hours.
Despite the initial disappointment, traders remain hopeful for pro-crypto policies under the new administration, with particular attention on Solana’s SOL tokens.
“Launching $TRUMP on SOL proves to be a significant endorsement of the chain, making it more likely that the SOL ETF could gain approval sooner than expected,” said QCP Capital in a Tuesday broadcast from Singapore. “With increased media exposure from similar launches, we anticipate retail inflows will increase.”
The firm added, “The launch of Trump’s memecoin not only attracts retail speculators but also signals to major institutions that the president is supporting crypto. Institutional investors are eagerly awaiting concrete pro-crypto policies that could have a significant impact on the economy.”
