This Is What Trump Memecoin Craze Means for Crypto and You

Donald Trump launching his memecoin a few days before becoming the 47th president of the US is considered a pivotal moment in the cryptoasset space, traditional finance, politics, and culture. While these might just be hot takes that may not materialize—since the TRUMP memecoin could crash hard, wiping billions along the way, or the market might simply lose interest and jump onto other things—let’s explore what might still be in the cards.
For those busy with other things, here’s a quick recap:
Donald Trump and his team launched the memecoin TRUMP on Friday, with 80% of its supply allocated to Trump. The memecoin skyrocketed by thousands of percent, entering the top 20 largest cryptoasset list with over an $11 billion market cap. Then-still president-elect Trump held more in cryptoassets than the total wealth he had accumulated over his lifetime. Over the weekend, the MELANIA token, associated with Trump’s wife Melania, was launched, which caused the value of TRUMP to drop by about half, although some of it later recovered. Meanwhile, it seems like memecoins linked to other members of the Trump family might soon follow.
TRUMP price chart:

We won’t explore the morality of the project, potential conflicts of interest or insider trading, the structure of those deals, or who made or lost how much money. Instead, we will focus solely on how this might impact the cryptoasset industry, the broader world, and, consequently, you.
New Rules for the Memecoin Market
The highly criticized structure of the deal—where Trump assigned himself 80% of the supply—and allegations of insider trading might signal to the market that all rules are now off the table, potentially making the memecoin market even wilder with exponentially increasing scams and fraud.
“Memecoins are the best fan engagement tool ever invented. If Trump is doing it, then it is less risky for Beyoncé or Swift to do one as well. Prepare your butts for a memecoin explosion,” Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX said.
As pseudonymous popular X account qw opined, Trump now has two options: either to use the raised money for the public good, such as helping the victims of the Los Angeles fires, or “do nothing and keep enriching himself.” According to the poster, the first scenario would help popularize and legitimize crypto as “the greatest capital formation mechanism ever,” while the second scenario would mean “crime season.”
“The back end of this bull market is probably going to be ugly. Please be careful out there,” cryptoasset analyst Will Clemente warned.
New Capital Formation Tool
Speaking of what qw mentioned—the chance for crypto to become an even more popular capital formation tool—this opinion is also corroborated by others, as the market might be inspired by the speed and scale with which crypto raises money. While this is now mostly used for memecoins, it could potentially be applied to legitimate business purposes or other creative uses in the future.
“TRUMP token just signaled to every company, municipality, university & individual brand that crypto can now be used as a capital formation and customer bootstrapping mechanism. NYC will have a token. Harvard will have a token. Netflix will have a token,” Jeff Dorman, Chief Investment Officer at digital investment firm Arca, said.
Changes in the Perception of Crypto
However, this latter change might also depend on how the world perceives Trump’s highly speculative project and what next steps he takes.
The attention generated by this craze might bring new users to the crypto world who could begin taking an interest in other parts of the market.
Google searches have already picked up:

"Donald Trump is likely onboarding millions of new people to the space," cryptoasset trader Scott Melker, a.k.a. The Wolf Of All Streets, said, while stressing that, for now, he still thinks the TRUMP token is "Good for crypto, bad for humanity" because it's "a gratuitous cash grab."
However, if the TRUMP project ends in failure and leads to huge losses for retail investors, this might, on the contrary, hit the image of crypto hard. According to Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge, who briefly served as the White House Director of Communications during Trump’s first term, “The Trump meme coin stuff is bad for the industry. Don’t delude yourself. It’s Idi Amin-level corruption.”
Scaramucci also stressed that “now anyone in the world can essentially deposit money into the bank account of the President of the USA with a couple of clicks,” suggesting this is how people could pay Trump for geopolitical, corporate, or personal favors.
However, Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at digital asset investment company Bitwise Invest, claims that while some worry memecoins harm crypto's reputation, this “ship sailed long ago."
"Regulators have already blessed the gamification of markets. Memecoins are small potatoes," Park added.
Good for the Image of Bitcoin
Bitcoiners argue that these developments might help distinguish bitcoin (BTC) in the eyes of the mainstream audience as the most reliable and secure cryptoasset network. Moreover, now odds of the US confirming their strategic BTC reserve have also improved.

“One of the best aspects of Bitcoin is you don’t have to trust anything or anyone. <...> There is no Bitcoin CEO, no insiders with pre-mined coins. It is an open protocol that anyone can opt into,” Bitcoiner Alan ₿ Watts explained.
Also, today, BTC hit its new all-time high of around $109,000.
Changes in Regulation and Taxation
If you’re a BTC or crypto investor, you might also benefit from regulatory and tax changes that now have an even stronger chance of becoming more crypto-friendly.
"Trump is now strongly incentivized to legalize cryptocurrency in the most aggressive way possible," investor and entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan said.
Economist and cryptoasset trader Alex Krüger also noted that “Trump and his coin could pave the way for the next wave of crypto innovation,” such as “national coins” that might be used to replenish central bank reserves or build housing for the poor. “Such a trend would, of course, require a renewed regulatory framework,” he added.
Meanwhile, others remind us that Trump is now strongly incentivized to change cryptoasset taxes.
“Now that 80% of Trump’s wealth suddenly consists of crypto, you can expect an end to all federal income taxes on crypto sales within the year,” Bitcoiner Mike Alfred predicted.
All that said, as the situation evolves, these scenarios could change quickly, and new ones may emerge. In the meantime, some cryptoasset traders are jokingly asking to bring back Gary Gensler, former Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, known for regulation by enforcement policy when it comes to the crypto industry. Gensler stepped down hours before the TRUMP token was launched.