Insiders Clean Up as Retail Investors in Trump Family ‘Memecoins’ Lose Billions in Just One Year

Investors who parked their money with cryptocurrencies launched by members of the Trump family have lost billions of dollars in just one year. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump both debuted their own cryptocurrency products shortly before returning to the White House in 2025, though both coins have failed to create any kind of return for the vast majority of investors despite being tied to the first family. Mr. Trump and his family have made billions of dollars off of cryptocurrency investments in recent years, including overseas, where foreign nations have sought to curry favor with the president’s sons. Donald Trump Jr. confirmed in an interview with CNBC that — as was first reported by the Wall Street Journal — a senior member of the United Arab Emirates’ royal family bought a 49 percent stake in their crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. “There’s not a banker, there’s not a fund manager that doesn’t go to the Middle East,” Mr. Trump told CNBC, defending the investment, which was followed by the president allowing the sale of certain AI chips to the UAE. Despite the first family’s successes in the crypto space, retail investors are not sharing in their prosperity. The elder Mr. Trump launched his memecoin, $TRUMP, on January 17, 2025 — three days before he took the oath of office. Mrs. Trump’s coin, $MELANIA, launched on January 19. The value of both coins have fallen dramatically in the last 13 months. Mr. Trump’s product is down more than 91 percent from its all-time high, while Mrs. Trump’s is down more than 94 percent. Those price collapses have resulted in billions of dollars in losses for most investors, according to an analysis by the digital outlet CryptoRank, which publishes insight about the crypto market. In total, more than $4.3 billion in value has been wiped out as a result of the Trump memecoins’ crash. That isn’t to say that everyone has been left out in the cold. Through fees and sales, those traders who were lucky enough to make a profit were able to collectively pocket $600 million. The CryptoRank report finds that more than $1 billion in value was extracted from the trading of these memecoins by just 45 different crypto wallets. “For every dollar insiders earned, ordinary investors lost $20,” the CryptoRank report states. The total number of crypto wallets that have lost money on the $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins exceeds 700,000. “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,” the CryptoRank report explains. Reports from crypto analysis firms and journalistic outlets will likely be just the beginning of additional scrutiny on the president’s crypto dealings. In November, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a 26-page investigative report into Mr. Trump’s use of cryptocurrencies to significantly increase his net worth. Should Democrats take control of the House or Senate — or both — this November, they have promised to use their investigative authorities to continue looking into Mr. Trump’s crypto dealings. “Due to the anonymous nature of crypto transactions and the lax regulations governing the industry and financial regulators, Members of Congress and the public interested in conducting oversight are largely unaware of who exactly has invested in the Trump family’s crypto ventures,” Judiciary Committee Democrats wrote in their report. “However, the information we do have clearly demonstrates that foreign actors and corporate interests are buying access to and favors from the President and members of his Administration by investing in his family’s cryptocurrency ventures and making large, and plainly politically motivated donations,” lawmakers argued.

Insiders Clean Up as Retail Investors in Trump Family ‘Memecoins’ Lose Billions in Just One Year

More from the New York Sun

A Front Row Seat as an Actress in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ Reinforced How Much It Anticipated the Epstein Scandal

Judge Cannon Denounces Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago Report as ‘Brazen Stratagem’ and Blocks Its Release in Major Victory for Trump

Mike Huckabee Hits a Nerve on Greater Israel

More from the New York Sun

A Front Row Seat as an Actress in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ Reinforced How Much It Anticipated the Epstein Scandal

Judge Cannon Denounces Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago Report as ‘Brazen Stratagem’ and Blocks Its Release in Major Victory for Trump

Mike Huckabee Hits a Nerve on Greater Israel

As Trump Blocks Oil Deliveries to Cuba, the Clock Ticks for a Transition

Nations Jockey for Better Trade Position Following Supreme Court Ruling, but Many Deals May Already Be Done

Tennessee Bill Would Allow Women Who Have Abortions To Be Charged With Homicide

Obama Is in No Position To Lecture Americans About Decency

With GOP Control of Senate in Doubt, Could Conservative Justices Contemplate Early Retirement?