The cryptocurrencies launched this weekend by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania are not unanimous within the digital currency community, because for some they reflect the sulphurous image of the environment.
Trump, a new electronic currency, is a “meme coin”, a cryptocurrency intended to capitalize on popular enthusiasm around a personality, a movement or a viral phenomenon on the internet.
The “meme coin” has no economic or transactional utility and is often identified as a purely speculative asset.
Just a few hours after Trump’s arrival, Melania, the First Lady’s cryptocurrency, was put on the market.
As of around 10:15 p.m. GMT on Tuesday, the Trump was worth around $46 each, with the total in circulation worth $9.4 billion.
Some 200 million of these tokens (units) have already been dispersed. There are plans to create 800 million more, all of which will be owned by Donald Trump and his associates.
At current prices, this windfall would increase the head of state’s fortune by around $36 billion.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who delivered a prayer at the opening of Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony at the Capitol on Monday, has also marketed his own cryptocurrency in recent hours.
“The ‘Trump coin’ is stupid and embarrassing,” crypto entrepreneur Erik Voorhees commented on X (ex-Twitter).
-“I am not an admirer of these Trump ‘meme coins’, unless all the proceeds go to victims of hurricanes or fires, and safeguards are put in place to avoid related conflicts (of interest) to foreign interests,” wrote pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton, also on X.
Meme coins are known for their often extremely volatile valuations and it is not uncommon for their price to collapse.
This segment of the cryptocurrency market has regularly been the scene of scams or manipulation.
“The emergence of “meme coins”, whether they are linked to personalities, like Trump and Melania, or others, underlines the playful and experimental nature of the crypto universe”, tempered Mike Cahill, boss of Douro Labs, specialized in the development of the technology underlying cryptocurrencies, the “blockchain”.
“Our industry should not take itself too seriously,” he insisted to AFP. “Meme coins are an element of our culture, which brings new people into the ecosystem. »
While he does not deny the playful nature of the sector, Kevin Boon, from the start-up Mysten Labs, also specializing in “blockchain”, recalled that “people can lose a lot of money”.
Furthermore, he stressed, “this has already generated a backlash from certain elected officials in Congress who were already opposed to the idea of giving any form of legitimacy to this technology”.
“Meme coins like these are a concern,” argued Kevin Boon, “because they are a simplification of this entire industry (…) into speculative and high-risk + trading +. »
