Retail investors of the official TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins have suffered significant losses since their launch, leaving holders with more than $4 billion in losses as the tokens trade more than 90% below their early 2025 highs.
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Trump family memecoins leave investors in the red
A CryptoRank report on Friday shared how retail investors lost billions to the Trump family’s official memecoins, while insiders apparently pocketed millions of dollars.
Over a year ago, President Trump surprised the industry by launching his official token before the start of his second term. The memecoin quickly skyrocketed to an all-time high (ATH) of $75, delivering huge profits for many early investors.
Two days later, US First Lady Melania Trump announced the launch of her memecoin, which quickly rose to an ATH of $13.05 in less than 24 hours.
However, the tokens faced significant backlash from the crypto community, with some
A year after their launch, the memecoins TRUMP and MELANIA have sunk, down 92% and 99% respectively from their January 2025 highs. At the time of writing, the token based on the US President is trading around $3.55, while the First Lady’s token hovers around $0.11.
According to CryptoRank, the damage to retail investors is enormous, with holders absorbing losses at a ratio of 20 to 1. “For every dollar insiders made, ordinary investors lost $20,” the report said.
As a result, retail losses are worth more than $4.3 billion, coming from nearly two million portfolios that are currently underwater. Citing data from blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, CNBC shared that most wallets that lost money held smaller amounts of the token.
Insiders and crypto exchanges generate millions
While private holders bear the losses, CryptoRank highlighted that insiders have cashed out more than $600 million through fees and token sales. Notably, 45 wallets have collectively raised about $1.2 billion, and 58 wallets have earned more than $10 million each, according to CNBC data.
The report also noted that the sell-off may not be over yet, as $2.7 billion in insider tokens set to be locked up until 2028 suggests that significant selling pressure is still on the horizon for the memecoins.
As reported by NewsBTC, a Reuters analysis claimed that crypto exchanges were the main beneficiaries of the presidential family’s memecoins, with the TRUMP token generating millions of dollars in revenue for some of the largest exchanges.
Based on the standard fee estimates compiled by the news outlet, the crypto platforms reviewed would have earned more than $172 million in trading fees just six months after the token’s listing.
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Meanwhile, the Trump family has also profited significantly from their major crypto ventures, including World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and the memecoins TRUMP and MELANIA.
According to recently According to Bloomberg data, the official presidential memecoins have generated profits worth about $280 million from the family’s holdings and associated revenues.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com