[Coin Report] Trump Couple Meme Coins That Shake the Coin Market… ‘Ant Hell’ Due to Mass Unlocks and Sells

The meme coins issued by former U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife have recently shown a sharp decline. According to CoinMarketCap at 1:50 PM on the 18th, Melania (MELANIA) and Official Trump (TRUMP) have fallen by 17% and 6% respectively over the past week.

Analysis suggests that large-scale token unlocking and insider selling are behind the price drop. According to on-chain analyst Amber CN on the 16th, approximately 20.5 million MELANIA tokens were detected as being sold from wallets believed to be owned by insiders over the past month. This amounts to approximately $14.6 million at the time. Currently, the MELANIA project team-related wallets hold 92% of the total issued tokens, raising the possibility of additional sales.

Another meme coin, 'TRUMP', is also facing concerns about a price plunge as it approaches the unlocking of 40 million TRUMP tokens worth approximately $320 million. Typically, coin projects lock up team-held tokens for a certain period before sequentially releasing them. However, when a large volume of tokens is released into the market at once, it can cause significant volatility.

Particularly, with a substantial number of these meme coin investors being first-time cryptocurrency investors, criticism is mounting regarding Trump's responsibility. There are accusations that Trump leveraged his fame to draw the public into high-risk meme coins. According to a survey conducted by NFT Evening with 1,092 Americans who invested in these two meme coins, 42% of respondents reported this as their first cryptocurrency investment. Currently, both coins have fallen more than 90% from their peak prices, suggesting significant losses for many investors.

Conversely, analysis suggests that the former president has generated substantial profits from this meme coin project. According to blockchain data analysis by the Financial Times (FT), Trump is estimated to have earned at least $350 million. The TRUMP team sold team-held tokens for about three weeks after the coin's launch in January, realizing $350 million in profits on the Solana (SOL) network alone. This does not include potential earnings from MELANIA coin sales or distributed sales through centralized exchanges (CEX), suggesting the actual profit could be even higher.

The industry is criticizing Trump for using his political influence to market high-yield coins. Particularly, there are concerns that by directly issuing coins in the unregulated meme coin market and realizing large profits, he is encouraging reckless speculation. CNBC strongly criticized, stating, "Trump has turned the cryptocurrency market into a virtual gambling arena" and "While the cryptocurrency industry has been working to shed its 'online casino' reputation and encourage the growth of solid projects, Trump's actions could nullify these efforts."

Reporter Kim Jung-woo

woo@sedaily.com