Is the coin real?

That was the question plaguing crypto traders from both the US and Asia when an “official” memecoin linked to Republican Donald Trump was issued in the early Asian hours on Saturday from his verified X and Truth Social accounts.

Prices ran from a few cents to $14 in less than six hours amid widespread confusion over whether the token was actually endorsed by Trump or was a possible hack of Trump’s account with a fake token issued by the attacker to fleece unsuspecting buyers.

CoinDesk could not independently confirm whether or not the token was legitimate as of early European hours on Saturday.

The token — which is viewed with skepticism among some traders — has attracted $3 billion in trading volume hours after going live and has a market cap of $2 billion at current prices. It has given early buyers over $70 million in paper gains and smaller traders as much as $1 million, onchain data shows.

The apparent move comes just days before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, and is the first time a sitting president will give their flavor to a memecoin. It’s the latest in a long list of crypto-related companies and products linked to Trump — with the Republican previously issuing several NFTs and the relatively new decentralized finance platform World Liberty Financial.

“My NEW official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WIN!,” reads an X post from the @realDonaldTrump account. “Join my very special Trump community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to — Have fun!

The X-post went up at 2:44 UTC Saturday and has been up until after 8:15 UTC. It was originally perceived as

The token was first posted on Trump’s Truth Social, where it went from a fully diluted valuation of $200 million to over $1.3 billion in just over an hour. It gained traction and interest from crypto traders after the X post.

A disclaimer on the meme’s website stated that the Trump meme token was intended to serve as an “expression of support for and commitment to the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol $TRUMP” and is not “intended to be, or to be the subject of an investment opportunity, investment contract or security of any kind.”

The rationale is in line with how memecoin markets have shaped since late 2024, moving away from mere tokens related to images (such as dogecoin) to cult tokens where holders believe in a shared vision or idea, as the brand implies (such as SPX6900 flipping). the US stock market, or MOG, which represents “tokenized gain.”)

Meanwhile, some previously issued post-Trump-themed memecoins took a hit early Saturday, dropping as much as 50% as their value proposition fell.