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TRUMP, MELANIA Memecoins Made Millions for Some, Less Than $100 for Many

An analysis of wallets showed 77% of TRUMP holders earned less than $100, with over 80% of TRUMP or MELANIA holders likely to be investors who held less than $1,000 worth of Solana-based assets.

Jan 24, 2025, 8:58 a.m.
(hoekstrarogier/Pixabay)
(hoekstrarogier/Pixabay)

What to know:

  • Donald Trump's official memecoin was highly profitable for early investors, especially 60 whales who made over $10 million each.
  • The memecoin attracted new investors to the Solana blockchain, with about 50% of token holders being first-time buyers for Solana-based tokens.
  • However, the concentration of wealth is significant, with 40 whales holding 94% of TRUMP and/or MELANIA

Donald Trump’s official memecoin has been extremely profitable for early buyers and likely unprofitable for many, a Chainalysis finding shows.

An estimated 60 whales — a colloquial term for influential token holders — have realized profits exceeding $10 million each. However, a majority of retail investors were at break-even as of Thursday.

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“After 1B $TRUMP tokens were minted, 4 wallets received most of the funds to hold or provide liquidity to exchanges,” Chainalysis said. “Most wallets that hold $TRUMP and/or $MELANIA hold less than $100 worth, suggesting retail buying activity.”

An analysis of wallets showed 77% of TRUMP holders earned less than $100, with over 80% of TRUMP or MELANIA holders likely to be investors who held less than $1,000 worth of assets on the Solana blockchain.

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Some 50% of those token holders were likely first-time Solana-based token buyers — meaning TRUMP helped attract newcomers to the overall market. On the other hand, around forty whales holding over $10 million of both tokens accounted for an estimated 94% of overall token possession.

TRUMP prices are down 7% in the past 24 hours, while MELANIA tokens are down 10% as initial hype around the two official memecoins appears to be dying out.

Trump issued his official memecoin before his Monday swearing-in ceremony, where prices rocketed from a few cents to $14 in less than six hours. The token attracted $3 billion in volumes hours after going live and netted early buyers over $70 million in paper gains, as CoinDesk noted.

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