Whales lose big as Trump Family’s meme coins spiral into bear territory

A day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the U.S., whales took massive hits from Trump-backed meme coins MELANIA and TRUMP.

Just two days before his inauguration as the 47th president of the U.S., Donald Trump launched his meme coin, Official TRUMP (TRUMP), on the Solana (SOL) blockchain on Jan. 18.

On Jan. 19, the token skyrocketed to a peak of over $75, swelling its market cap to nearly $15 billion—an eye-popping 840% jump from its all-time low of $6.24. However, as of this writing on Jan. 21, the TRUMP token has experienced a sharp downturn, dropping almost 57% to $33.

In a turn of events, on-chain analyst Look On Chain highlighted a key transaction involving the wallet “Ansem.” The wallet, which had initially invested 9.38 million USDC (USDC) to purchase 194,799 TRUMP at an average price of $48.14, sold its holdings at $35.04, incurring a $2.55 million loss after receiving just 6.83 million USDC.

Yesterday, a whale purchased 440,136 Melania Meme (MELANIA) tokens for 20,185 Solana, which is equivalent to $5.1 million, according to the on-chain platform Onchain Lens.

The purchase was made at a price of $11.60 per MELANIA. However, with the token’s value having experienced a sharp decline, the whale’s investment is now worth only $1.56 million, resulting in a floating loss of $3.53 million.

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Launched on Jan. 19, MELANIA is a meme coin tied to Melania Trump, the First Lady of the U.S. The token initially saw a sharp rise, reaching a high of $13.73. However, after a large-scale sell-off, its value has dropped over 58% in the past 24 hours, now trading at $3.72, marking a 73% decline from its peak.

Despite the losses, some crypto traders within the community have claimed to have turned into overnight millionaires from the Trump family tokens.

The launch of these tokens has sparked widespread criticism, with many accusing the President of a conflict of interest and using the tokens as a cash grab. Amid this, Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, has suggested that meme coins will remain a dominant trend in the crypto space through 2028, aligning with the duration of Trump’s presidency.

Furthermore, the crypto community has also taken note that the President did not mention crypto when he swore in yesterday, leaving both the attendees and the crypto community confused.

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