The Trump memecoin resulted in a $3.8 billion loss for investors, while the president made $636 million.

      TL;DR: Blockchain analytics firm Nansen discovered that 988,905 purchasers of Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin collectively faced losses of $3.81 billion by the end of June. Trump's financial disclosure indicates he earned $636 million in royalties from this coin and has a total of $1.4 billion in crypto-related income projected for 2025.

      Almost a million people who invested in President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin have lost a total of $3.81 billion, according to an analysis from blockchain analytics company Nansen. The data, covering all transactions up to the end of June, shows that 988,905 token buyers are currently at a loss.

      Trump has earned $636 million from the same token. His financial disclosure, a 927-page document published by the Office of Government Ethics on June 30, lists this amount as royalties from CIC Digital LLC, a subsidiary of the Trump Organization, under a licensing deal with a company called Celebration Coins, which has no apparent public presence.

      Money flow details

      Trump introduced the $TRUMP token on the Solana blockchain on January 17, 2025, just three days prior to his second inauguration. The token quickly rose to $75.26 within hours, temporarily pushing its fully diluted market capitalization over $75 billion.

      First Lady Melania Trump also launched her own token, $MELANIA, on January 19, introducing another Trump-branded coin just before the inauguration. Both tokens have since drastically declined in value. The $TRUMP token is now trading around $1.78, a drop of over 97% from its peak. An investment of $10,000 made on inauguration day would now be worth approximately $364.

      This setup guarantees that the president profits regardless of the token's price fluctuations, as he receives royalties and transaction fees anytime the token is bought or sold. Of the one billion tokens issued, 80% are owned by two Trump-affiliated entities, CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which are being gradually released over a three-year unlocking schedule, with about 900,000 tokens entering circulation daily.

      The regulatory landscape

      The $TRUMP token launched while Trump was simultaneously influencing regulatory changes. Since his inauguration, the SEC has dropped or suspended around 60% of its crypto enforcement actions, including lengthy cases against Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.

      In July 2025, Trump enacted the GENIUS Act, establishing the first federal guidelines for stablecoins. This law provided institutional players with regulatory clarity to launch tokenized products, yet it did not include specific rules for memecoins or tokens issued by elected officials.

      Conversely, Europe’s MiCA regulation mandates that any crypto asset sold to the public must adhere to disclosure and consumer protection standards, irrespective of its label. The American framework lacks equivalent protections for the retail investors, who constitute the majority of memecoin buyers.

      The gala event

      On May 22, 2025, Trump hosted an elite gala at his Virginia golf course for 220 top holders of the $TRUMP token, who collectively spent $148 million. Among the attendees was Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto mogul and the coin’s largest holder, who was facing SEC fraud charges at the time, which have since been paused.

      A Bloomberg analysis revealed that 19 of the top 25 wallets were likely controlled by individuals outside the United States. This event provided direct personal access to the sitting president in return for buying a financial product that benefits him.

      The larger crypto operation

      The memecoin is part of a broader financial operation. Trump's financial disclosure outlines total crypto-related income of at least $1.4 billion for 2025, including roughly $800 million from World Liberty Financial token sales and $197 million from an equity sale related to a stablecoin holding company.

      World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance protocol where a Trump business entity holds 60% and receives 75% of all revenue from token sales, has its own controversies. The venture committed 5 billion of its tokens to secure a $75 million loan from a lending platform co-founded by one of its advisers, affecting existing depositors.

      Trump Media & Technology Group recorded a loss of $405.9 million in the first quarter of 2026, primarily due to unrealized losses on the cryptocurrency it had acquired, which amounted to nearly $2 billion spent on Bitcoin at market highs the previous summer.

      Future prospects

      Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has proposed a ban on elected officials and their spouses from issuing or promoting crypto tokens. She attempted to include similar provisions during the GENIUS Act discussions, but they were omitted from the final legislation.

      The proposal faces significant challenges in a Congress that has largely welcomed the industry. Recently, Visa, Mastercard, and 140 other companies introduced a competing stablecoin structured under the GENIUS Act framework, highlighting the rapid maturation of institutional crypto under the new regulations.