A cartoon image of Donald Trump from the US presidential election holding a Bitcoin token to mark the cryptocurrency on display at a Coinhero store in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, December 5th, 2024.
Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will have to wait another three months before he can start selling meme coins.
The $Trump Token, which debuted in January just before his inauguration, was scheduled to unlock major tranches of insider-holding tokens this month. However, the official Trump Token account said this week that all major unlocks, including the first cliff and the next three months of the daily best, are delayed by another 90 days.
Only 20% of $Trump’s supply is tradeable. The remaining 80% held by insiders are locked under a three-year schedule, with tokens being released in increments.
The lockup is meant to prevent the lagpuu, the industry term for a scheme that allows insiders to quickly get rich while other investors lose at a slump price. The vesting schedule is designed to reassure retail investors that early supporters will not immediately flood the market with coins.
The $Trump Token shows the president’s willingness to leverage his power and political brand for economic benefits. Market capital soon surged to $15 billion, backed by Trump’s posts on social and X, “It’s time to celebrate everything we stand.
On Wednesday, the $Trump Token skyrocketed over 50% after the project’s website offered the president the top 220 owners of token dinners at a golf club near Washington, DC on May 22.
As CNBC reported Friday, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and Massachusetts Ethics Office are asking the U.S. Government Ethics Office to investigate whether promotion constitutes “paying” corruption.
Like most meme coins, $Trump has no underlying products or services. After its launch in January, first lady Melania Trump quickly introduced her token, $Melania, before falling over with $Trump.

Shortly after the release of The $Trump and $Melania Coins, the SEC issued guidance that Meme Tokens is not eligible as a securities and effectively protects the project from immediate regulatory scrutiny.
Token creators are already making a lot of money despite trading restrictions. According to Chain Orisis, the main wallet behind $Trump has won more than $350 million in USDC, a stubcoin imposed for $1 by acting as a market maker and collecting fees for each trade.
The Trump family has another cryptographic project in their work.
World Liberty Financial, the first family-backed decentralized finance venture, has raised $550 million in two token sales since October. According to the provision of documents reviewed by CNBC, buyers will be banned from reselling the token and will not receive a portion of the profits, but entities affiliated with Trump are entitled to 75% of their net revenue, including revenue from token sales.
Watch: Trump memes are clearly bad.”

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