President-elect Donald Trump launched his personal cryptocurrency on Friday, sparking a feverish shopping for that apparently despatched its market capitalization hovering to a number of billion {dollars}.

In a message posted on his Reality Social platform and X, Trump unveiled the so-called meme coin, which is designed to capitalize on the recognition of a sure character, motion or viral web pattern.

“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It is time to rejoice all the pieces we stand for: WINNING!” he wrote.

Meme cash don’t have any financial or transactional worth and are sometimes seen as a way of speculative buying and selling.

“This Trump Meme celebrates a pacesetter who would not again down, irrespective of the chances,” the coin’s official website says.

Within the hours following the in a single day launch, the crypto group posed questions in regards to the legitimacy of the $TRUMP coin, and its precise hyperlink to the president-elect, with some fearing a rip-off.

However the truth that the bulletins got here on Trump’s official social media channels appeared to reassure the market, as did the truth that Trump has used one of many firms behind the undertaking, CIC Digital LLC, up to now to promote non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

By mid-morning on Saturday, the market capitalization for $TRUMP stood at almost $6 billion, in accordance with CoinMarketCap.com.

Neither Trump nor the corporate managing the launch, Battle Battle Battle LLC, supplied particulars about how a lot he constructed from the preliminary batch of meme cash launched.

The coin’s official website mentioned 200 million meme cash had been issued, with Battle Battle Battle saying an extra 800 million can be added over the subsequent three years.

Previously a cryptocurrency skeptic, the president-elect is now a convert and has change into a champion of the idea.

Earlier than this new announcement, Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric began their very own crypto enterprise – World Liberty Monetary – and different members of the incoming administration have beforehand disclosed investments in and backing for cryptocurrencies.

Final summer time, Trump spoke at a Bitcoin convention in Nashville, the place he pledged to make America “the crypto capital of the planet” as soon as again within the White Home.

The meme coin is Trump’s newest merchandise push, which lately included a line of perfumes, colognes, watches and “President Donald J. Trump First Version” silver cash promoting for $100 every celebrating his election win. He famously used a photograph of him sitting subsequent to first girl Dr. Jill Biden on the re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral to advertise the cologne line.