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President-elect Trump launched his own cryptocurrency overnight and swiftly appeared to make more than $25 billion on paper for himself and his companies. 

Why it matters: The stunning launch of $TRUMP caught the entire industry off-guard, and speaks to both his personal influence and the ascendancy of cryptocurrency in his administration.

  • It also speaks to the nature of the crypto industry that someone could have $25 billion worth of something that literally did not exist 24 hours previously.
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[-] Fizz@lemmy.nz 62 points 2 weeks ago

Trump holds 80% of the supply. This is going to be the biggest rug pull of all time. Americans are literally getting shitcoin scammed by their own presidents holy shit what a timeline.

[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 21 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly, it's kinda impressive that this scheme still works in 2025. How low can people go, I wonder.

[-] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Just means more rugs need to be pulled until idiots have no more money to waste.

[-] imaqtpie@lemmy.myserv.one 5 points 2 weeks ago

Fresh idiots are being born every day, unfortunately

[-] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Calls on rugs!

[-] NutWrench@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 weeks ago

And these "coins" are actually tokens. Not only are they not backed by any real assets (venture capital, real estate, etc), the damn things don't even exist in reality!

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 3 points 2 weeks ago

It's somehow even worse than NFTs

[-] TotalCourage007@lemm.ee 11 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly, I won't forgive Biden for just smiling in response to Trump winning after not leaving 4 years sooner. Before anyone asks, I voted for Harris, so don't shove that narrative down my throat.

[-] Default_Defect@midwest.social 5 points 2 weeks ago

The tankies are getting REAL close to just outright admitting they wanted Trump, so there's that.

[-] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk 6 points 2 weeks ago

The defo do. Trump wants to hand Ukraine to Putin on a silver platter, the tankies have been salivating for that for years now

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[-] AllHailTheSheep@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 weeks ago
[-] Fizz@lemmy.nz 5 points 2 weeks ago
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[-] redditron_2000_4@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

This is money from foreign governments and corporations buying influence. It has nothing to do with “Americans”.

[-] Fizz@lemmy.nz 3 points 2 weeks ago

There are plenty of Americans that will buy this coin and lose money.

[-] Klear@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I'm sure there's still a plenty of idiots buying these.

[-] AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, to the tune of 10s or maybe a couple 100s of millions of dollars. But now Saudi Arabia can come in and buy a billion worth of the coin as a direct donation to trump with zero oversight. This is open corruption on a scale we simply haven't seen before.

[-] Ronno@feddit.nl 3 points 2 weeks ago

Of all the things crypto would bring us, I would never have imagined it would create transparency and democratization in corruption. What a time to be alive!

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[-] Milddirection@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 weeks ago
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[-] graverubber@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 weeks ago

I suppose that's more streamlined method of bribery than buying property in his towers or booking his hotels.

[-] VubDapple@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Or buying ads on his wife's radio station as apparently was how you'd get in front of President Johnson.

[-] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Hmmm that's interesting. I wish I knew more about the crimes of all the presidents. I feel like if they were talked about more it would really bring down some of the power that people want to give to that office. Instead they make them out to be like gods after they are dead long enough

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[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 weeks ago

Isn’t that a conflict of interest?

His whole political career has been a conflict of interest.

[-] glitch1985@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Who's going to stop him?

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 6 points 2 weeks ago

It's not a crime if it's the president, the scrotus said so

[-] RedstoneValley@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Crypto market cap does not equate the equivalent in dollars. When you create a new cryptocoin you can freely adjust the coin's parameters such as the amount of available coins. So let's say you "print" 1000 coins and sell one at $50. You now have a market cap of $50000.

It's like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, with the notable distinction that the rabbit isn't real. What makes it real is if enough suckers actually buy the coins with real dollars.

[-] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago

I wish more people understood this. Especially in the press, since its their job to educate everyone else.

Trading volume is what matters, not trading price. It's only worth $25 billion if you can turn $25 billion of it into cash.

Unfortunately since banks still haven't take wised up to this, and the wildcat crypto banks really haven't, its likely still possible to pump a meme coin and then take out loans against the purported asset value. The bank is then left trying to repossess a pile of worthless memecoin when you fail to repay the loan.

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[-] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Please someone explain how this is in any way legal. This is fucking absurd. The amount of hatred I have for every racist imbecile that supported this rapist fascist felon is too much for me to bear. The logical thing to do would be to just ignore everything because my mental well-being is more important, but this seems like some historic occurrence that should be stopped by any means necessary.

[-] SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 weeks ago

Why should legality matter? What are laws? It's rules that the government put down for everyone to follow. And what happens if someone controls all aspects of the government?

Legality is meaningless in the face of fascism, because the fascist government will be making the laws. it's like asking why it wasn't illegal to do genocide in nazi Germany. Or asking why it wasn't enforced by law to hide jews from the nazis to protect them

Legality is not relevant. Legality is not morality or a foundation for ethics. Legality is just the will of the government, for better or for worse. It is not something that necessarily serves the people's beat interests

[-] vanontom@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

At this point, anything the billionaires want is legal. It is fucking absurd. The entirety of T****'s first term was insanity. This one will be catastrophic, and unfixable for generations. His supreme court, judges, corruption has made it inevitable.

I tried to logically deal with the firehose of lies and hatred, thought it was important and worth it. Not anymore. Not again. This country is too fucking dumb for me to care anymore, too easily manipulated. Not worth the pain. I did what I could, voted against it every time. "But the price of eggs!"

I'm just going to fuck off and try to enjoy myself while it burns. Someone wake me for the revolution, the oligarch bbq, or some legit riots at least.

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[-] 5oap10116@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

There's no rule saying a dog can't play basketball

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[-] NutWrench@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Meanwhile, back in reality:

The venture was co-ordinated by CIC Digital LLC - an affiliate of the Trump Organization - which has previously sold Trump-branded shoes and fragrances.

Meme coins are used to build popularity for a viral internet trend or movement, but they lack intrinsic value and are extremely volatile investments.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vmym2jvy9o.amp

Just because you SAY something is "worth hundreds of billions" does not mean it is actually WORTH hundreds of billions.

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[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

They are only worth what ~~people~~ idiots pay for it.

[-] Mongostein@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago

It’s money laundering

[-] ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Trump launches ~~meme coin~~ money laundering scheme, apparently ~~makes~~ launders more than $25 billion overnight

Ftfy

[-] MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Bingo, the CCP can't bribe Trump directly but they can buy a ton of crypto.

[-] WatDabney@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 weeks ago

They aren't buying cryptocurrency - they're buying influence. The cryptocurrency is just a front.

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[-] aggelalex@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Holy shit, inb4 he pumps and dumps and avoids jail cause of presidential immunity

[-] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago
[-] ubergeek@lemmy.today 5 points 2 weeks ago

Nothing is illegal for a POTUS. He cannot be charged with any crime while in office, running for office, considering to run for office, and/or dreaming of being in office.

[-] fnrir@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I'd love to be POTUS. Time to download some Nintendo games! /j

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[-] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

This is so fucking stupid. Everything. I feel like we're living in a fucking clown show.

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[-] frigidaphelion@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Dear god, please let donald trump choke on a piece of potato and die. Amen 🙏

[-] tamal3@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Really sucks that I, an atheist, acknowledge that I can do nothing more impactful than pray Trump dies soon.

[-] umbraroze@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

It's easy to think that crypto is over. The NFT bubble is so deflated. We've seen big companies like FTX bomb the hell out. I mean, the signs are obvious now, aren't they? Crypto was, conclusively, proven to be the scam everyone said it would be and we don't need any more proof, right?

And then we hear Trump administration is really into this crypto nonsense.

Somehow.

Guess they didn't get the memo.

Brace yourself for 4 years of spectacular, glorious fail.

And if someone says stuff like "oh, Trump just got filthy rich off of the meme coin he launched yesterday", let's wait and see how the coin does at the end of his administration.

[-] westyvw@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago

Bitcoin is sitting at 105,000 each. Businesses have bought in, banks have bought in. A whole country buys them like clockwork for their citizens future.

Its a damn ponzi scheme where the last to hold the bag is the loser. Yet it is so big now, so entrenched, I dare say it may be too big (to be allowed) to fail.

Insane. And the worst part is, nobody actually uses them. Not in any significant way. It's just let's get rich!

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[-] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I hope everyone is acutely aware that you, me, WE are not in a class war.

WE HAVE LOST A CLASS WAR.

What happens now?

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this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
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