The Trump administration on Tuesday took its first steps to reshaping the digital asset industry as the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new crypto task force. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump failed to sign any crypto executive orders when he was sworn in again on Monday. But 47th President and his associates signaled further support for the industry with the launch of two new meme coins over the weekend. Bitcoin resumed climbing Tuesday after hitting a record high on Inauguration Day.
SEC Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda on Tuesday announced the regulator is launching a crypto task force "dedicated to developing a clear regulatory framework for crypto assets."
The task force will help draw regulatory lines, provide paths to registration, craft disclosure frameworks and deploy enforcement resources, while operating within a statutory framework provided by Congress. Commissioner Hester Peirce was tapped to lead the task force. The new task force will also coordinate with federal departments and agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as state and international counterparts.
Meanwhile, Trump is still expected to announce major changes to the industry within his first 100 days. Some orders under consideration include establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve and crypto council, creating a clearer regulatory framework, and changing crypto banking policies.
$TRUMP Launch
Before his inauguration on Monday, Trump on Friday launched a new Solana-based cryptocurrency called Official Trump, or $TRUMP. He calls it the "official meme coin" of the Trump team.
Solana is a blockchain that uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism similar to ethereum. It opened to the public in 2020.
"Trump showed the world what a leader is made of. His strength and courage ignited a movement becoming the most memorable meme of the century," the website reads. "Now, you can get your piece of history. This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn't back down no matter the odds. Join the Trump Community — we're all about fighting for what matters."
The meme coin includes an image of President Trump holding up his fist with the words "fight, fight, fight" in the background, referencing the July 2024 assassination attempt on his life.
Distribution Of Trump Coin
The Trump Organization owns an 80% share of the meme coin through its affiliates CIC Digital LLC and a related entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC, with their holdings to be unlocked over a three-year period, according to the website. The Trump crypto launched with 200 million tokens immediately available. The supply is expected to grow to 1 billion over three years.
Only 10% of the total supply was allocated for public distribution, with another 10% for liquidity. CIC Digital and the Trump coin creators will be able to begin vesting their holdings after three months, according to the website.
The Trump team also selected meme crypto marketplace Moonshot as the first exchange to list the Trump coin. Moonshot itself launched six months ago. The exchange said it processed nearly $400 million in volume within the first 12 hours of listing $TRUMP. Other exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance, quickly followed suit and announced they would list the Trump coin as well.
The Trump coin launched at around $6.50 per token, according to CoinMarketCap, then peaked at $75.35 on Sunday. The meme coin quickly tumbled following the launch of Melania's own cryptocurrency. The Trump coin currently trades around $37 with a market cap of $7.65 billion.
A Coin For Melania
Separately, President Trump's wife Melania launched her own meme coin, $MELANIA, on Solana Sunday afternoon. Like the Trump token, the Melania coin is not meant to be an investment.
"Melania memes are digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support for and engagement with the values embodied by the symbol MELANIA," the website says.
Of the Melania token, only 15% is allocated for public distribution. About 10% of the token distribution is for liquidity, with 20% for the community and treasury. Team vesting makes up 35% of the token distribution.
The Melania meme coin has an initial 30-day lock period. After day 30, 10% of the team allocation will unlock, representing 3% of the total supply. The remaining 90% of the token vests linearly from months two to 13. Full vesting will be completed after month 13.
The Melania coin launched at around $7 on Sunday and peaked at $13.73 on Monday. The token has fallen to around $4.30 as of Tuesday morning.
World Liberty Financial
Elsewhere, Trump's other crypto project World Liberty Financial on Monday made a series of digital asset purchases, according to Donald Trump Jr.
World Liberty Financial purchases $47 million of ethereum and wrapped bitcoin, which are bitcoin that have been converted to use on the ethereum network. It also purchased $4.7 million of Aave (AAVE), Chainlink (LINK), Tron (TRX) and Ethena (ENA).
World Liberty on Monday also announced it sold 20% of its WLFI tokens. Reports indicate World Liberty generated $300 million through the sale after raising the price of the token to 5 cents. It plans to raise another $250 million through an extended sale.
World Liberty launched its presale in October at 1.5 cents, which was unavailable to U.S. retail investors at the time.
Donald Trump Sentiment Indicator Is Falling. $TRUMP Coin Could Be Why.
Crypto Industry Reacts To Trump Coin
There has been a mixed reaction from crypto executives, ranging from praise to concern about damaging trust within the industry.
Yat Siu, chairman of blockchain gaming and non-fungible token company Animoca Brands, wrote online: "My suggestion for you and the Trump coin team is to consider supporting important charitable foundations and causes with $TRUMP carefully. How the token is handled will have a ripple effect on the trust and reputation of the entire crypto and Web3 industry."
"Creating a bunch of personal memecoins opens the door to secretive foreign buyers trying to curry influence with our leaders," Nic Carter, general partner at venture capital and blockchain startup firm Castle Island Ventures wrote online. "We used to have an informal rule that presidents wouldn't start or run businesses that could pose a conflict of interest. Creating a bunch of memecoins and defi protocols opens the possibility to rampant violations of the emoluments clause."
Norm Eisen, a former White House advisor who served on the board for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, told the Washington Post there is a major conflict of interest.
"He's launching a major, new multibillion-dollar venture in the burgeoning crypto industry, where he has the most profound conflict of interest between (what) he's seeking to gain and his duties to regulate that industry, Eisen said.
Other Crypto News
In addition to the Trump launches, Tuesday was a busy day for crypto news.
Bitcoin miner Riot said it will halt the previously-announced Phase II bitcoin mining expansion at its Corsicana Facility as it explores artificial intelligence and high-performance computing opportunities. The facility has around 600 megawatts of remaining power capacity, which Riot is evaluating for AI use.
It marks Riot's first move into the AI space, as other bitcoin miners are looking to diversify their revenue streams.
Meanwhile, Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan on Tuesday said the banking industry will embrace crypto if regulators allow it.
"If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you'll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it," Moynihan said in an interview at the World Economic Forum, reported by CNBC.
Bitcoin Price Action
Bitcoin traded around $106,300 late Tuesday after peaking above $107,000 on the task force news. BTC is up 13.8% so far this year and on Monday hit a new record high of $109,225.
Analysts say that investors may have used the opportunity to lock in gains.
"The retreat looks like little more than profit-taking after its recent rally, with traders balancing optimism over growing institutional adoption against caution around regulatory uncertainties," Matt Britzman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown wrote in a note reported by Barron's. "Despite the dip, sentiment remains strong as the market eyes more favorable conditions with Trump in office."
Ethereum traded around $3,300 Tuesday afternoon, still below its 2024 high of $4,106 from December. Ethereum peaked at $4,891 in 2021.
Solana on Tuesday hit a record of $260.24, before easing near $254 in the afternoon.
Coinbase stock eased slightly Tuesday after climbing more than 1% in the morning. Riot shares surged 4.3% in early trade but reversed for a 4.9% decline.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
