Over a year ago, President Trump surprised the industry by launching his official token ahead of the start of his second term. The memecoin rapidly skyrocketed to an all-time high (ATH) of $75, bringing massive profits for many early investors.<\/p>\n
Two days later, the US First Lady, Melania Trump, announced the launch of her memecoin, which quickly surged to an ATH of $13.05 in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n
However, the tokens faced significant backlash from the crypto community, with some X users calling the memecoins a \u201cbig red flag\u201d as later reports revealed that one of the faces behind the MELANIA memecoin was Hayden Davis, the mastermind behind the LIBRA Token disaster.<\/p>\n
A year after their launch, the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins have sunk, collapsing 92% and 99%, respectively, from their January 2025 highs. As of this writing, the token based on the US President trades around $3.55, while the First Lady\u2019s token hovers around $0.11.<\/p>\n
According to CryptoRank, the damage to retail investors has been staggering, with holders absorbing losses at a 20-to-1 ratio. \u201cFor every dollar insiders earned, ordinary investors lost $20,\u201d the report noted.<\/p>\n
As a result, retail losses have exceeded $4.3 billion from nearly two million wallets currently underwater. Citing data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, CNBC shared<\/a> that most wallets that lost money held smaller amounts of the token.<\/p>\n While retail holders bear the losses, CryptoRank highlighted that insiders have cashed out over $600 million through fees and token sales. Notably, 45 wallets extracted approximately $1.2 billion combined, and 58 wallets made more than $10 million each, CNBC data shows.<\/p>\n The report also noted that the selloff may not be over, as $2.7 billion in insider tokens that will be locked until 2028 suggests significant selling pressure is still on the horizon for the memecoins.<\/p>\n As reported by NewsBTC, a Reuters analysis claimed that crypto exchanges were major beneficiaries of the presidential family\u2019s memecoins, with the TRUMP token generating millions of dollars in revenue for some of the largest exchanges.<\/p>\n Based on standard fee estimates compiled by the news outlet, the reviewed crypto platforms allegedly made more than $172 million in trading fees just six months after the token\u2019s listing.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Trump family has also significantly benefited from their main crypto ventures, including World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins.<\/p>\nInsiders And Crypto Exchanges Generate Millions<\/h2>\n
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