Trump’s Memecoin Bags Reach $30 Million As Celebrity Drama Wears On

Sometimes, reality really is stranger than fiction.

Memecoin mania in the cryptocurrency space is reaching new heights as presidential nominee and convicted felon Donald Trump receives a deluge of donations from crypto enthusiasts.

According to onchain data platform Arkham Intelligence, the wallet linked to Trump has more than doubled to $28 million in the past few days thanks to the latest memecoin referencing the former president – Trump Frog (TROG).

In the days after its launch, the team behind the memecoin airdropped Trump’s wallet with 210 billion TROG, worth roughly $12 million at the time. That figure has risen to $16 million as users continue to trade the token, which showcases a $32 million market cap, according to DEXscreener.

It’s highly unlikely that Trump, who has taken a swift U-turn in his stance toward the crypto industry, knows of his memecoin holdings, let alone Trog. As per Arkham, the user controlling the wallet goes by the handle loveischieftrollofficer.eth.

According to Etherscan, the individual who registered the ENS domain is a whale holding 469 ETH or $1.8 million.

Nonetheless, the astonishing figure linked to Trump denotes how much fervor is pervading the memecoin market. In an election year that has seen bets on Polymarket heat up, the industry can only wonder how these movements will affect the outcome.

Celebrity Drama Carries On

Trump isn’t the only public figure dealing with memecoin fever, however. A number of celebrities are calling out alleged serial memecoin scammer Sahil Arora, who is accused of orchestrating pump-and-dump schemes involving big-name celebrities and musicians.

According to Caitlyn Jenner, Arora helped her launch her token, JENNER, had her promote it and then dumped the tokens on unsuspecting traders.

“FUCK SAHIL! He scammed us! BIG TIME!” wrote Jenner on X as the token surged to a $43 million market cap on May 27. It has since dropped to $5.6 million despite Jenner’s continued promotion.

Jenner isn’t alone in her dealings with Arora.

Musicians Rich the Kid and Iggy Azalea also took to Twitter to denounce Arora. The former claims his account was hacked and used to promote a coin by Sahil, who later blocked the musician after selling his tokens.

Azalea experienced her own dismal situation with Arora after the scammer allegedly launched and linked the token IGGY to the musician. However, Azalea struck back, issuing her own token, MOTHER, which now boasts a $98 million market cap while IGGY sits at a meager $46,000.

Vitalik Weighs In

The latest in the Sahil saga is that the alleged scammer was banned from X on June 4.

But his involvement, along with the price appreciation associated with some of these tokens, is now attracting the attention of crypto heavyweights.

Chris Burniske, partner at Place Holder VC, posted on X that “If MOTHER breaks into sustainable value creation, it’ll also be the mother of this cycle’s celebrity experimentation.”

His words caused a stir, which drew in Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, who claims he is unhappy with this cycle’s “celebrity experimentation.”

Buterin claims that he can respect the idea of “financialization as a means toward an end” only if the end is worthwhile – he pointed to healthcare, open source software, and art, among others – but pushed back against financialization as the final product.

“Ashton and Mila’s Stoner Cats was vastly more honorable than anything we’ve seen from this 2024 celebrity memecoin era – at least there was an actual show being funded,” he wrote, asking, “How do we push things in a better direction?”

Memecoins Proliferate

While Buterin’s question is certainly valid, memecoins continue to proliferate at truly staggering levels.

According to data from The Block, nearly half a million tokens were launched on Solana in the last month alone. This figure eclipses every other chain by a wide margin, including the late memecoin bloomer, Base. Coinbase’s Layer 2 saw 144,000 tokens launched last month, whereas 39,000 originated on BNB Chain.

But having famous politicians like Trump receive millions in memecoins or musicians like Iggy Azalea launching their own tokens might not even be enough for the current market frenzy.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler was questioned by legendary TV host and investor Jim Cramer on CNBC’s Squawk Box today about whether BONK should have its own ETF. The token barely budged on the news, jumping 3.2%.

Gensler’s answer? “Without pre-judging any of these tokens,” he said, staring at the screen, “these tokens have not given you [the viewer] the disclosures needed to make any investments.”

Nobody could have predicted this type of cycle in 2024.