Bitcoin-friendly Donald Trump won the elections in November and was inaugurated in January as the 47th President of the United States of America. But before he is formally sworn, the supreme commander dropped a meme coin.
Yes, you read that well. Running on the Solana network had the Trump -Token at one point a market capitalization of $ 14 billion. It has since fallen to $ 1.8 billion, but the move meant the growing enthusiasm of the new president for the digital asset room after campaign to help Bitcoiners and the fast-moving atmosphere as a whole.
Trump burned himself as a crypto-friendly candidate prior to the Division of November, causing millions of dollars cash And digital assets -donations from Silicon Valley Tech Leaders. And then he won.
But it wasn’t always like that: President Trump was once an avid crypto critic. So how did we get here?
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is very volatile and based on thin air. Not -Regulated Crypto -Activa can facilitate illegal behavior, including drug trafficking and other illegal activity …
– Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) 12 July 2019
Trump’s most determining early commentary on cryptocurrency dates from 2019, when he as president he made it clear He didn’t like Bitcoin.
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, who are not money, and whose value is very volatile and based on thin air,” he said at that time on Twitter, before he closes Facebook’s planning For a digital currency.
“We only have one real currency in the US, and it is stronger than ever, both reliable and reliable,” he added. “It is by far the most dominant currency all over the world, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”
Trump repeatedly His beliefs during a Bitcoin Bull Run in 2021. “Bitcoin just seems like a scam,” he said on Fox companyRepeat that he wanted the dollar to be the world’s top currency.
Enter the NFT world
It took a long time before he explicitly said he liked the best cryptocurrency, and the journey began with an unlikely crypto -thrage: NFT assembly objects.
Towards the end of 2021, after Trump had left the White House, his wife Melania announced her plans for one Solana-Based NFT collection. Solana Labs clarifying that it had nothing to do with the collection that launched on the blockchain, and Trump remained SLAM Crypto As “dangerous” despite his wife’s company.
Excited for this new company, which combines my passion for art and dedication to help the children of our nation to fulfill their own unique American dream. #Melanianft https://t.co/xjn18tmllg pic.twitter.com/wmpmddsqdp
– Melania Trump (@Melaniatrump) December 16, 2021
The following year, however, the supreme commander launched his own NFT collection. Beaten on Ethereum Scaling Network PolygonThe Digital Trade Card collection was initially ridiculous– But it was still sold out quickly and earned millions of dollars.
Trump later said That he only launched the collection because he thought they were ‘rather cute’. He has since then launched More collections on polygon, and even a part of the third set on Bitcoin hit via the Ordinals protocol. A fourth collection was launched in August 2024 with the largest number of NFTs so far.
Trump has even claimed that the success of his NFT collections, and the surprising number of buyers that used Cryptocurrency instead of Fiat -Maluta, helped to change his perspective on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
A digital wallet connected to the president by Blockchain analysis company Arkham Intelligence shows that he did that Millions In royalties of the NFTs -and also has some of the greatest unofficial Trump -Meme coins, which were probably sent to the wallet without Trump’s knowledge or permission.
Trump’s crypto embrace
But it was only last year when Trump really increased the pro-Crypto talk. “I earn money with it, I also enjoy it,” Trump said In an interview in March with CNBCs Squawk -Doos. “Corn new currencies, that’s what I call them.”
Then, while he host holders of his NFT’s in his resort in Mar-A-Lago in May, he told The crowd he “was good with” crypto – and closed Biden and the Democrats because they were “against it.” Many saw the event as one turning point In crypto policy interviews.
Rumor spread In May 2024, the richest man in the world and the greatest donor of the Trump campaign, Elon Musk, had advised the presidential hopeful about a crypto strategy. (Musk denied the reports.) In July, the Republican Party published a draft party platform that explicitly called Crypto – a first for industry.
After Survive a murder Attempt in July, the Business Mogul and the former reality TV star Musk’s Public approval earned, as well as support from many other prominent names in the digital assets room. And large crypto figures such as the Winklevoss Twins of Gemini and Kraken founder Jesse Powell donated considerable amounts to Trump.
Trump then selected Senator JD Vance as his choice for running buddy, with the vice president seen at the time as A pro-Crypto candidate who previously announced Bitcoin holdings of $ 100,000 and $ 250,000 in 2021.
But the most tangible sign of Trump’s embrace came from crypto when he spoke At the Bitcoin conference of 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. There he promised the crowd that he would build a “strategic Bitcoin stock” for the country and that his plan was to change the US in the “Crypto capital of the planet”.
The Trump family then teased one Decentralized Finance (Defi) Project called World Liberty Financial, in which Trump himself placed several social media tea players during the first rollout.
.@Worldlibertyfi pic.twitter.com/MWHVIZPJYQ
– Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldrump) August 29, 2024
The son of President Donald Jr. said that the crypto platform will be egalitarian. “Too long the average American is pressed through the big banks and financial elites. It is time for us to take a position -” he said on Twitter (aka x).
Then, a day after the Second attempt About his life, Trump launched The project during a live interview with Trug Radio (Decrypt‘s Sister Company). World Liberty Financial The aim is to offer loan and loan services for cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum network.
As crypto token lances go, the project was a bit of a flop directly out of the gate, where he only managed to sell 4% of his assigned tokens during the launch. But the sale was considerably for the inauguration of Trump, with the rest of the allocation that was sold out on January 20 – the day he returned to the White House.
Decrypt Subsequently, the World Liberty Financial Project had launched its own Stablecoin. Data on chains shows that token is available on both Ethereum and Binance’s BNB chain.
The Republican also has more crypto people in his team. Bitcoin Bull Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his campaign to endorse Trump and then joined the Trump transition team. Now he is the secretary of health and human services. Oranje-Pile Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick is also part of the political team of Trump, now as secretary of Handel.
Elsewhere, Dogecoin fan Elon Musk led the Ministry of Government Efficiency (Doge), a program to defeat the budgets and to reduce jobs in the government. Since then he has been taken out of the role in the midst of a messy, publicly falling apart with Trump.
Crypto -ambitions grow
Trump was used in September the first current or former president of the US that we know to have used Bitcoin to buy something: in the popular New York City Crypto Bar, Pubkey, the ex-president bought a hamburger using the Cryptocurrency.
“It is the start of a new era,” he said, referring to the digital assets industry. And it was not only talking: on January 17 he launched a meme coin on Solana, and the token is now one of the most valuable meme coins that exist.
The Trump launch has been criticized by politicians and analysts on a large scale and is seen by some as a potential road for corruption. But although the price has fallen sharply compared to the peak, it continued to see the trade demand, even in April when Trump revealed plans to organize an exclusive dinner for Trump Trump holders.
Trump’s exclusive dinner – in May for the top 220 holders of the meme – was a picturesque event, according to those who spoke DecryptAnd the president only appeared. VIP -who received a special tour in addition to access to the event, had an average of $ 4.8 million in Trump to get a top spot at the party.
But the Republican, in his first five months, has made other, more serious campaign togations a reality: he founded a strategic bitcoin reserve and was the first president to have signed a crypto-related legislative proposal in the law of the so-called Defi-Makelrecule of the Irs.
The SEC from Trump has also deleted numerous lawsuits and against crypto companies from the previous administration, and his family remains – although controversial – ahead of his own crypto companies: Donald Trump Jr. And Eric Trump launches the American Bitcoin, a collaboration with Bitcoin -Mijnbouwbedrijf Hut8 that launches the “World of the” World Miners. “
The Trump sons are also planning to launch a crypto wallet through their World Liberty Financial Project. Initially, the Trump Meme Coin team said it would launch its own wallet with Trump theme, but that plan was canceled after a public (but short-lived) dispute with Eric, Barron and Don Jr. (The Trump family seems, interesting enough, to have reduced its interest in the world Liberty recently).
Trump’s media company Trump Media and Technology Group in March also signed an agreement to offer Teams with Crypto.com to offer ETFs, where Trump Media himself is planning to invest his own money in the products.
Trump Media has plans to launch a spot in Bitcoin ETF in the US, after NYSE has submitted Arca paperwork to state the “Truth Social Bitcoin ETF” of Yorkville America Digital. A joint Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF in the truth is also in the making. Moreover, Trump Media has collected more than $ 2.3 billion to set up his own Bitcoin Treasury.
Trump critics have argued that the digital assets companies of the president are a conflict of interest; Silicon Valley Bigwigs say he is pro-innovation. One thing, however, is certain: President Trump seems to go all-in to crypto and his earlier perspective on industry shoulders.
Published by Andrew Hayward
Note of the editors: This story was originally published on July 19, 2024 and last updated with new info on 23 June 2025.