CryptoQuant CEO says Trump opens new era for meme coins

Ki Young Ju, who is the CEO of CryptoQuant, has said that Donald Trump has set a new era for meme coins.  

In a recent post on X, Ki noted how Trump’s launch of TRUMP capitalizes on the retail investing trend that continues to dominate, turning speculative fervor into a potent force. With the advent of the Official TRUMP (TRUMP) token, which launched on Jan. 18, Trump is moving forward with speculation on retail-driven crypto markets to secure profits by leveraging his enormous fan base.

Retail investors have always pumped money into financial market trends, and decades of “investing in the S&P 500” is like investing in meme coins, Ki argued. Now, the retail investor plays the game as hype-forming influencers are followed, trends are replicated, and entrepreneurs are idolized, aided by platforms such as Robinhood and crypto exchanges, which facilitate active participation. He says the Official Trump coin is the perfect representation of this story, which is heavily aided by an army of Trump believers. 

As opposed to traditional investments, Ki said, the celebrity meme coins — such as TRUMP — does not create direct value. Their value instead comes from their power of community-building. He said Trump’s coin probably won’t tank until he pulls the rug from underneath with his avid fan base. Many others within the crypto community, however, believe that a rug pull might not be in the cards for the Trump token which has a market cap of 45 billion, as per CoinMarketCap. 

Ki also foresees a rise of other meme-influenced digital assets in the decentralized crypto market. The pro-free-market approach under Trump will mean little regulation. This means dozens of meme coin communities can experiment their fate over the next four years, until 2028. However, Ki has cautioned that although these meme coins have the potential to promote goodwill and innovation, they could also be used by malicious groups. One such example was seen in the case of the Hawk Tuah meme coin, which crashed 88% in 20 minutes in December.