Crypto Community Slams Trump’s Meme Coin Foray as MELANIA Meme Hits $1.7 Billion Market Cap

Meme coins have taken center stage since the launch of Official Trump (TRUMP), which now ranks as the second-largest meme coin after flipping Shiba Inu (SHIB). Melania Trump also launched her meme coin, MELANIA, which attained a $1.5 billion market cap in under 12 hours. 

At press time, TRUMP and MELANIA outperformed the broader crypto market after gaining 64% and 49%, respectively. Despite these gains, the crypto community has elicited mixed reactions, with some accusing Trump of profiting at the expense of the crypto community. 

Crypto Community Reacts to Trump’s Meme Coin Foray 

Messari founder Ryan Selkis has criticized the release of the MELANIA meme coin, saying that its release was misguided and could undermine Trump’s public image.

“Please fire whoever recommended going forward with the Melania launch today. They don’t know what they’re doing. They cost you a lot of [money] and goodwill. They don’t have your interests in mind,” Selkis stated.

The former CTO at Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan, has also slammed the current hype around the meme coins, saying they were a “zero-sum lottery.”

“There is no wealth creation. Every buy order is simply matched by a sell order. And after an initial spike, the price eventually crashes and the last buyers lose everything,” he noted.

Balaji also added that unlike Dogecoin (DOGE), which had built a solid community by not being centralized, TRUMP and MELANIA had someone who could be blamed if the price crashed.

“Very rapid price appreciation in a highly politicized environment has high potential for trouble. A lot depends on what happens after the first big price crash. There isn’t any one person to blame for DOGE,” he stated. 

Surging Inflows to Trump Meme Coins Attributed to Market Dip

At press time, more than $1.2 billion had been wiped out from the entire cryptocurrency market due to forced liquidations. According to analyst Ash Crypto, the hype around TRUMP and MELANIA had caused this dip as traders withdrew capital from other altcoins to buy the two meme coins.

Ran Neuner, the founder of Crypto Banter, supported this sentiment and accused Trump of profiting at the expense of the entire crypto industry.

“After MELANIA, it’s clear that they are now grifting at the expense of the entire crypto community – sucking liquidity out of the rest of the market,” he said.

However, despite this criticism, Donald Trump Jr believes that the success of these meme coins demonstrated significant accomplishments in the crypto industry.

“We are all extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. TRUMP is currently the hottest digital meme on earth,” he stated.