Calmly Revisiting TRUMP: Nearly $80 Billion Market Cap in 31 Hours—Freedom or Chaos?
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Calmly Revisiting TRUMP: Nearly $80 Billion Market Cap in 31 Hours—Freedom or Chaos?
How long does it take to go from $0 to an $80 billion market cap? Donald Trump, soon to be inaugurated as U.S. President, gave the answer: 31 hours.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Babywhale, Techub News
How long does it take to go from zero to an $80 billion market cap? President-elect Trump will answer that this week: 31 hours. Of course, calculating market cap based on token price might not be a method everyone agrees with, but one thing is undeniable—Trump’s team has created a record in the Web3 space that may never be matched before or after. However, beyond proving Trump’s profit-driven business nature, this feat brings no real benefit.
The past three days’ story is already familiar to many. Trump posted on X announcing the launch of the "official Trump Meme," and amid widespread skepticism—initially thought to be a hacked account—the price began rising. But as the post remained online and Trump’s son Eric confirmed it via tweet, the market ultimately accepted that the TRUMP meme token was indeed issued by the Trump family.
What followed likely surprised everyone, both inside and outside the Web3 industry. With a total supply of 1 billion tokens and only 20% released, TRUMP's price skyrocketed. According to GMGN data, the token surged from $0.18 at 10:00 AM on Saturday to nearly $80 around 5:00 PM yesterday, completing what seemed like an impossible mission over the weekend.
"Presidential Token Launch" Sparks Controversy
The emergence of TRUMP brought significant profits to many investors over the weekend. Major exchanges including Binance rushed to list spot trading for TRUMP last night, which likely contributed heavily to pushing its price to at least a temporary peak.
From a profit-making perspective, the U.S. president launching a meme coin could be seen as recognition and support for memes and Web3 itself, rewarding countless retail participants who constantly monitor the blockchain. In fact, TRUMP’s launch clearly involved extensive preparation, with projects or initiatives like Meteora and Moonshot providing varying levels of assistance. Moonshot reported gaining 400,000 new users in just two days, briefly topping the Apple Store charts.
Yet from another angle, observers within and beyond the industry have largely offered negative critiques:
Bitcoin Magazine published a direct criticism, calling it “nothing more than a pump-and-dump self-enrichment scam—an unethical act,” and labeling participants (or rather, “fans”) as extremely foolish. The author argued that Trump would never allow Bitcoin to compete with the dollar, which contradicts Bitcoin’s original purpose, and suggested that if Trump truly supported Web3, he shouldn’t treat it merely as a “casino.”
SkyBridge’s founder stated that Trump’s actions bring no benefit to the industry and labeled them “corrupt behavior.”
Even a doctor with 1.5 million YouTube followers chimed in: “Just because another president was corrupt doesn’t mean you can do the same.”
Technology Should Be Free, But Not Lawless
Musk once joked on a show about how animal protection groups approached SpaceX, demanding assessments of how rocket debris might affect whales and sharks in impacted waters. To counter claims that rocket launch noise harms seals, they even captured a seal and played the sounds through headphones to prove there was no effect.
Silicon Valley tech giants have long criticized excessive regulation—perhaps why Musk decided to establish the Department of Government Efficiency ("D.O.G.E"). U.S. tech companies consistently advocate for lighter oversight to boost innovation, which is understandable. But light regulation should not mean no rules; otherwise, “freedom” becomes “chaos.”
In my view, one key reason so many altcoins remain stagnant lies in U.S. regulators’ failure to clearly define what these project-issued tokens actually are. If tokens are securities—representing equity in a project—then what exactly constitutes the company’s ownership structure? Without clarity on the actual meaning of these tokens, large-scale capital is unlikely to invest based on fundamental project value.
Additionally, should project teams regularly disclose their token holdings? Should foundation finances be made public like financial reports? Should sales of team-held tokens require disclosure? Should manipulative behaviors by exchanges, market makers, or so-called “whales” be regulated?
These are basic questions, yet it seems either no one knows how to solve them—or simply doesn’t want to. After all, a market with no regulation beyond outright fraud becomes the perfect tool for capital exploitation, much like early financial markets.
Today’s market lacks clear definitions for altcoins, and prices bear no relation to underlying project value. Given this reality, retail investors choosing to engage in on-chain PvP isn’t unreasonable.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Trump launching a token. If such an action could set a precedent—clarifying gray areas in crypto or promoting transparency—then issuing a token wouldn’t be problematic. After all, no U.S. law bans token issuance itself. The issue is that this seemingly casual meme token launch sends a message to everyone: *You too can freely issue tokens.*
No rules, no transparency—just announce your plan, perhaps add a disclaimer waiving class-action lawsuits. Thus, leveraging IP to launch and then rug-pull appears acceptable, with no legal barrier against selling tokens held by the issuing party.
Notably, such practices were considered illegal by the previous SEC—for example, misleading investors—but Trump’s “leading by example” has broken those norms.
Of course, it’s too early to judge four years based solely on launching a meme token. Web3 should not be stifled by overly strict regulations, but foundational concepts must be defined to enable investment based on project fundamentals. Memes are a unique culture within Web3, but they aren’t everything—and certainly not the most important part.
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