Trump’s Memecoins Surge in Value, but Challenges Loom for Liquidating Wealth
On-chain data reveals that wallets believed to be controlled by members of President Donald Trump’s team have seen substantial paper profits from the official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Meme (MELANIA) tokens launched on Solana in the past three days.
Currently trading at $42, TRUMP has surged to a market capitalization of $8.8 billion, placing it among the top 25 cryptocurrencies, just behind notable coins like polkadot (DOT) and litecoin (LTC). MELANIA has also seen impressive growth, reaching a market cap of $945 million, ranking 121st among token projects.
The wallets linked to TRUMP hold a significant portion of the token supply. On-chain data indicates that one such wallet contains $35.5 billion worth of TRUMP, plus an additional $17.5 billion across other memecoins named after Trump family members, including Eric Trump and Kai Trump. Additionally, another wallet associated with the TRUMP launch holds $622 million of the token and $162 billion in other coins, including $147 billion in the VANCE token, named after Vice President J.D. Vance. Interestingly, Vance did not publicly announce the launch of a memecoin on social media.
In a separate wallet structure, 77% of MELANIA’s supply is held by three wallets, two of which are linked to the Melania team. The total value of these holdings is around $4.8 billion. Two of these wallets—labeled Melania Treasury and Melania Liquidity—together control 33.7% of MELANIA’s supply and also hold a significant portion of the VANCE token, suggesting a close relationship between these wallets.
When considering the TRUMP and MELANIA tokens, Trump’s team may be holding an estimated $40.9 billion on-chain. However, if other tokens in the portfolio are included, the total value of their holdings could exceed $810 billion. Additionally, the VANCE token’s treasury holds a staggering $1.5 trillion in assets, adding to the paper wealth of Trump’s entourage, with an overall grand total of around $2.3 trillion in holdings. For context, Bitcoin’s entire market capitalization is approximately $2 trillion.
Despite these impressive numbers, these holdings are not easily liquidated. The team’s substantial share of each token’s supply means that any attempt to sell large portions of their holdings could cause significant market disruption. TRUMP’s $8.8 billion market cap and MELANIA’s value face similar challenges when it comes to large-scale liquidation.
Creating tokens for a minimal cost on the Solana network means that market capitalization can be easily manipulated by creators or early investors. For example, a memecoin could be issued with trillions of tokens and a small price tag, creating a high market cap with minimal market activity. The VANCE token, for instance, has just over $2,000 in liquidity across two Solana-based pools, indicating limited market depth and liquidity.
Moreover, both the TRUMP and MELANIA projects have vesting schedules in place, restricting the team’s ability to sell the tokens immediately. Trump’s team won’t be able to sell until at least three months from now, and even then, they can only sell small amounts gradually. The MELANIA token will begin its unlocking process in less than 30 days.
As it stands, these tokens represent enormous paper wealth, but realizing such profits without affecting market prices remains a significant challenge.
