Trump's Crypto Projects: A Financial Dead End for Retail Investors
The market for digital assets tied to Donald Trump's brand is nothing short of a trap for inexperienced participants. My analysis shows that the politician's high-profile name is used as bait to attract retail investor capital, while early participants and insiders lock in profits, leaving ordinary buyers with devalued assets. Losses in such projects reach 90–99%.
TRUMP Memecoin: A Classic Pump-and-Dump
The token was launched on the Solana blockchain a few days before the presidential inauguration in January 2025. The price dynamics speak for themselves:
- Peak price: $75.35
- Current price: around $1.7
- Decline from peak: 97.7%
This is a classic pump-and-dump scheme: early buyers, along with insiders, successfully cashed out, while retail investors, many of whom were supporters of the MAGA movement, were left with completely devalued digital assets.
MELANIA Memecoin: Identical Scenario
The token appeared on the market immediately after the release of TRUMP. The all-time high was recorded at $13.73. As of today, the current price is around $0.075, representing a decline of 99.45%. An absolutely identical scenario was observed: initial hype, distribution of shares in favor of insiders, and a subsequent crash. The popular brand, associated with a famous family, was used to extract millions of dollars from the pockets of retail buyers.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT)
The company went public through a merger with a SPAC in March 2024. Shortly after its stock market debut, the security traded above $79. The price has since corrected to $7.5, showing a decline of more than 90% from its highs. The organization loses hundreds of millions of dollars annually with minimal revenue figures. The market valuation was sustained for a long time solely on political hype, which the actual business has never been able to justify.
American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC)
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. own approximately 20% of the company through the deal structure. The organization entered the public market through a series of mergers, obtained a listing on the Nasdaq exchange, and holds thousands of bitcoins on its balance sheet. The company's stock financials are as follows:
- 52-week high: $14.52
- Current price: around $0.74
- Decline from recent peak: approximately 95%
The structure allowed Trump's sons to successfully monetize their stake through the public market. Meanwhile, ordinary retail shareholders once again suffered significant financial losses.
Historical Context
Similar examples can easily be found in the distant past. The famous Trump Taj Mahal casino opened in April 1990, and by July 1991, it had filed for bankruptcy. The Trump Plaza and Trump Castle casinos went through similar proceedings in 1992, and the Trump Hotels holding company did so in 2004 and 2009. Later, in 2016, a high-profile fraud lawsuit over the Trump University case had to be settled for $25 million. The long list of failed or closed commercial ventures also includes Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump Shuttle, and Trump Vodka.
Donald Trump himself has never personally gone through bankruptcy proceedings. All legal processes exclusively concerned his companies, while numerous creditors and partners suffered colossal losses.
Analytical Conclusion: The pattern is obvious: the Trump brand is systematically used to attract capital, which is then redistributed in favor of insiders. Retail investors, especially those guided by political sympathies rather than fundamental analysis, inevitably become victims of this mechanism. In current market conditions, investing in such projects is not an investment but a financial trap.