Investments in Trump's Crypto Projects: Financial Dead End or Calculated Risk?
Financial assets associated with Donald Trump's brand are not just a dubious investment, but essentially a trap for retail investors. As a leading analyst, I constantly monitor such schemes, and the data speaks for itself: the vast majority of participants in such projects lose between 90% and 99% of their capital.
The essence of the problem is simple and as old as time: a high-profile name is used to attract capital, but the deal structure is always designed to benefit insiders. Early participants and creators lock in profits at the peak, while ordinary buyers, driven by faith in the brand, are left with devalued assets.
TRUMP Memecoin: A Classic Pump-and-Dump
Launched on Solana a few days before the presidential inauguration in January 2025, the TRUMP token exhibited classic pump-and-dump dynamics. Its peak value reached $75.35. Today, the price hovers around $1.7. This represents a 97.7% drop from its all-time high. Insiders and early buyers successfully cashed out, while retail investors, including many supporters of the MAGA movement, were left with completely devalued assets.
MELANIA Memecoin: History Repeats Itself
The MELANIA token entered the market right after TRUMP and suffered the same fate. Its all-time high was recorded at $13.73. The current price is around $0.075, marking a 99.45% decline. An absolutely identical scenario: initial hype, allocation of shares to insiders, and a subsequent crash. A popular brand, closely associated with a famous family, was effectively used to extract millions of dollars from the pockets of retail buyers.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT): A Business Without Profit
The company went public through a merger with a SPAC in March 2024. Shortly after its debut, shares traded above $79. Now the price has corrected to $7.5, showing a decline of more than 90% from its highs. The organization loses hundreds of millions of dollars annually with minimal revenue. The market valuation was sustained for a long time solely by political hype, which the actual business has never been able to justify.
American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC): A Structure That Works for the Select Few
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. own approximately 20% of the company through a complex deal structure. The organization entered the public market through a series of mergers, secured a listing on Nasdaq, and holds thousands of bitcoins on its balance sheet. However, the 52-week high for the stock was $14.52, and the current price is around $0.74. The drop from the recent peak is approximately 95%. The structure allowed Trump's sons to successfully monetize their stake through the public market, while ordinary retail shareholders once again suffered serious financial losses.
Historical Context: A Pattern, Not a Coincidence
Similar examples are easily found in the distant past. The Trump Taj Mahal casino opened in April 1990 and filed for bankruptcy in July 1991. Trump Plaza and Trump Castle went through similar procedures in 1992, and Trump Hotels in 2004 and 2009. In 2016, a high-profile fraud lawsuit regarding Trump University had to be settled for $25 million. The long list of failed or closed commercial ventures also includes Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump Shuttle, and Trump Vodka. Donald Trump himself has never personally gone through bankruptcy proceedings—all processes concerned only his companies, while numerous creditors and partners suffered colossal losses.
My conclusion as an analyst: investing in projects associated with the Trump brand is not just a risky move, but essentially a financial trap. The structure of these enterprises is systematically designed for insiders to profit at the expense of retail investors. Relying on a high-profile name without analyzing actual business performance and share distribution is a sure path to losing capital.