Retail investors of the official TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins have recorded significant losses since their launch, leaving holders absorbing over $4 billion in losses now that the tokens trade more than 90% below their early 2025 highs.
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Trump Family Memecoins Leave Investors In Red
On Friday, a CryptoRank report shared how retail investors have lost billions on the official Trump family memecoins while insiders seemingly pocketed millions of dollars.
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.
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.
However, the tokens faced significant backlash from the crypto community, with some X users calling the memecoins a “big red flag” as later reports revealed that one of the faces behind the MELANIA memecoin was Hayden Davis, the mastermind behind the LIBRA Token disaster.
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’s token hovers around $0.11.
According to CryptoRank, the damage to retail investors has been staggering, with holders absorbing losses at a 20-to-1 ratio. “For every dollar insiders earned, ordinary investors lost $20,” the report noted.
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 that most wallets that lost money held smaller amounts of the token.
Insiders And Crypto Exchanges Generate Millions
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.
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.
As reported by NewsBTC, a Reuters analysis claimed that crypto exchanges were major beneficiaries of the presidential family’s memecoins, with the TRUMP token generating millions of dollars in revenue for some of the largest exchanges.
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’s listing.
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Meanwhile, the Trump family has also significantly benefited from their main crypto ventures, including World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins.
According to recent Bloomberg data, the official presidential memecoins have generated gains worth roughly $280 million from the family’s holdings and associated proceeds.
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
