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Insiders Pocketed $1.4B as Trump Meme Coin Collapsed 90%
Retail investors lost $4B on $TRUMP meme coin. Insiders booked $1.4B. Lawmakers may revisit disclosure rules for political tokens.
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Retail investors in the $TRUMP meme coin have lost between $4 billion and $4.5 billion since the token launched in January 2025, according to an analysis of the token's distribution. Over the same period, Trump-linked entities collected more than $1.4 billion in royalties and licensing fees, plus proceeds from token sales, the research found.
The token launched in January 2025 and briefly reached a market cap of roughly $15 billion, with the price hitting $72. By mid-2026, the market cap had fallen to around $400 million, a decline of more than 90% from the peak.
Between 764,000 and 1.48 million wallets are now sitting in the red. Insiders connected to Trump-linked entities captured an estimated $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion in gains by exiting positions before the broader collapse. Trump himself earned approximately $635 million in royalties and licensing from $TRUMP, plus over $500 million from related token sales, the research said.
The $TRUMP ecosystem included perks for top holders. Exclusive dinners were held at a Virginia golf club in May 2025 and at Mar-a-Lago in April 2026, promoted through Trump-linked websites.
World Liberty Financial, another Trump-connected crypto venture, saw its WLFI governance tokens depreciate roughly 33% during certain periods.
The report's authors noted that the collapse has already spurred discussions among lawmakers about whether tokens tied to political figures should face additional disclosure requirements or outright restrictions. The existing rules were not written for presidential meme coins, they said.
The token's structure funnelled a portion of trading volume to Trump-affiliated entities through a royalty mechanism. Each transaction generated fees that flowed back to the issuer. Insiders earned from volume, not price appreciation, the research said. That gave them a steady income stream regardless of the token's price direction. The research characterised the setup as one where retail buyers bore the price risk while insiders collected fees. If the talks lead to new rules, issuers would have to disclose exit plans, the report's authors said.