President Donald Trump's goodwill in the cryptocurrency industry has taken a hit after he and his wife launched meme coins -- a move critics say looks like an unseemly cash grab that undermines an effort to legitimize digital assets.
The industry, which felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration and spent heavily to help Trump win, is eager for the new president's help to make crypto a bigger part of mainstream financial systems. Trump has promised a lighter regulatory touch and picked pro-crypto officials for key government positions.
The price of bitcoin and other digital assets has soared since Trump won. A lavish "Crypto Ball" Friday ahead of Trump's inauguration sold tickets for thousands of dollars and featured a performance by the rapper Snoop Dogg.
But as that party was ongoing, Trump announced on social media he was offering his very own cryptocurrency in the form of a meme coin. The move dampened the mood for many in the crypto community.
"I really was kind of bummed out when I saw it," said Tom Schmidt, a partner at a crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly. "It just felt very grifty and cheap."
Some crypto fans even joked on social media they missed Gary Gensler, the recently departed chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission who was viewed as the Biden administration's chief crypto antagonist thanks to the SEC's aggressive enforcement actions against crypto companies.
Meme coins are among the wilder and more unregulated corners of the crypto universe. They often start as a joke with no real value but can surge in price if enough people are willing to buy them. Popular meme coins include Dogecoin, whose mascot is a dog, and Fartcoin. Scammers have tried to pump up the price of certain meme coins before dumping them on unsavvy investors.
Some crypto enthusiasts hailed the Trump meme coin's release and eager buyers drove up the price of the coin to above $70 each. The price fell dramatically on Sunday after First Lady Melania Trump announced the launch of her own meme coin, which also saw an initial price spike followed by a large fall. As of Tuesday afternoon, Trump's meme coin was trading at about $45 while the Melania meme coin was at about $4.
Trump named SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda as the agency's acting chief Tuesday and Uyeda quickly announced he was launching a new crypto task force to set the SEC on a "sensible regulatory path." Trump has promised to create a U.S. bitcoin stockpile and enact industry-friendly rules that make it easier for crypto companies to access the broader financial market.
But by associating himself so closely with meme coins, some crypto fans worry that Trump hurts his ability to enact reforms.
"Now, on the cusp of getting some liberalization of crypto regulations in this country, the main thing people are thinking about crypto is, "Oh, it's just a casino for these meme coins,'" said Nic Carter, a Trump supporter and partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures. "It does the opposite of validating us, it makes it look completely unserious."
The sale of Trump meme coins was organized by CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization. In promoting the meme coin, Trump told supporters to "Have Fun!" The website selling the tokens says they are meant as expressions of support and not an investment opportunity. The coin's website said 200 million Trump meme coins are currently available, with plans to issue 1 billion over the next three years.
The Trump family business recently released an ethics agreement that prohibits Trump from "day-to-day" decision making at the Trump Organization when he's president and limits financial information about the business shared with him.
The president and first lady were not the only ones promoting new cryptocurrencies around the inauguration. Lorenzo Sewell, the Michigan pastor who gave a spirited inaugural invocation Monday, announced the launch of a new coin named after him, which he said would be used to benefit his church.
"I need you to do me a favor right now, I need to you to go buy the official Lorenzo Sewell coin," Sewell said in a video post on social media.
