Trump Solana Meme Coin Trading Volume Has Collapsed Since Inauguration Day – Decrypt

President Donald Trump’s meme coin drop on Solana was the biggest thing in crypto just under two weeks ago, but both the price and daily trading volume tallies have fallen substantially in recent days. And among remaining Official Trump (TRUMP) holders, it appears some may have grown tired of “winning.”

Despite listings from popular trading venues like Robinhood, Binance, and Coinbase, TRUMP’s trading volume has been on the decline. The meme coin saw $36 billion worth of trading volume alongside Trump’s inauguration on January 20, but that daily mark fell by 90% to $3.5 billion on Wednesday.

The price has similarly been depressed, with the coin sitting at a current mark of $26.80. That’s down 64% from the peak, and remains close to the lowest price registered since Trump’s inauguration.

Because centralized exchanges don’t often keep user funds siloed across wallets, it’s difficult to get an accurate picture of how TRUMP’s distribution has shifted during its two-week history.

Still, data from DEX Screener shows the number of unique, on-chain TRUMP holders totaled 691,300 as of Thursday. On the eve of Trump’s inauguration, that figure was 18% higher, according to a Dune dashboard, suggesting that one in five wallets—or 125,000 wallets—have since cashed in.

Following its debut, the Trump-linked meme coin rocketed to a market cap of $14.5 billion in less than 36 hours, punching past crypto majors like Shiba Inu with apparent ease. It quickly became the second-largest meme coin by market cap, beaten only by Dogecoin.

The launch of First Lady Melania Trump’s own meme coin two days later spooked a budding TRUMP market, however, causing the asset’s price to tank 44% in an hour. Since then, the TRUMP token’s price has failed to reclaim its previous peak of $73.43, as some traders appear to be moving on.

Within the cryptosphere, Trump’s meme coin was at least briefly seen as a development more significant than Trump-branded NFTs or a DeFi protocol that he’s an advisor to. With plenty of newbies diving into the meme coin market for the first time, many considered it an onboarding event.

Data shared by the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis supports that theory. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the firm said “these are largely new retail buyers.” Around 50% of the wallets holding TRUMP and the first lady’s meme coin had never bought a Solana altcoin before, while 46% of buyers created a wallet the day they bought either token, Chainalysis said.

Though TRUMP’s trading volumes have cooled significantly since its eye-popping debut, the token still has a raft of ardent supporters online.

On Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, one vocal user pushed back against labeling the president’s meme coin “just another ‘pump and dump,’” arguing that it should instead be considered “history in the making” and “the beginning of the golden age.” 

The platform’s members got a head start when it came to TRUMP’s debut. The president’s Truth Social account promoted the meme coin 45 minutes before its X counterpart. However, that delay also fueled initial skepticism among Crypto Twitter die-hards over whether or not the coin was legitimate.

In the heat of the moment, some users on X described TRUMP’s launch as a massive paradigm shift. These days, other X users are looking at the TRUMP chart, reprising the crypto community’s timeless plea: “Can the devs do something?”

At least the TRUMP token is gaining more utility from within the president’s own large-scale licensed merch operation. On Thursday, GetTrumpWatches.com, GetTrumpFragrances.com, and GetTrumpSneakers.com were among vendors of official merchandise that began accepting TRUMP for payments.

Edited by Andrew Hayward