Investing.com– President Donald Trump largely shrugged off questions about adding billions of dollars to his personal fortune by launching the $TRUMP memecoin ahead of his inauguration.
In response to reporters’ questions about memecoin, Trump confirmed that he had launched memecoin, but claimed he had little knowledge of whether he had personally benefited from its performance.
“I don’t know about the benefits, I don’t know where it is, I don’t know much about it other than I started it, I heard it was very successful,” Trump said at a White House event on Tuesday.
Responding to a reporter who told him he had made “a few billion dollars” from memecoin, Trump said “a few billion? That’s peanuts to these guys,” though it wasn’t immediately clear who he was referring to.
launched to fanfare from retailers last week, coming just days before Trump’s inauguration on Monday. The token rose to a market capitalization of over $14 billion at its peak, netting Trump, who is the principal owner, billions in paper gains.
But memcoin has swung wildly in volatile trade, raising some questions about potential price manipulation, especially amid rumors that Trump has sold some of his holdings.
$TRUMP settled at $41 after racing to a peak of nearly $80 post-launch.
But the success of memecoin and the subsequent, less positively received launch of $MELANIA, has fueled traders’ concerns about the ethical question of Trump’s use of his influence to sway speculative markets in his favor.
Trump also made scant mention of crypto policy in his first two days in office, dampening hopes that he would immediately repeal pro-crypto policies through presidential decrees.
— which soared to a record high of over $109,000 before Trump’s inauguration — fell from these highs in choppy trade. The broader crypto markets also saw increased volatility following the launch of $TRUMP.
