Crypto exchanges rushed to list Trump's coin
The $TRUMP token, which launched three days before his inauguration in January, is a meme coin. Based on cultural fads or celebrities, these coins have no intrinsic value and – past experience has shown – are prone to large price swings that can leave investors with losses.
A Reuters analysis of crypto market data and industry announcements found that, compared to other recent large meme coins, the biggest crypto exchanges took Trump's to market with unusual speed, despite stating they vet risky coins thoroughly to protect small investors. Some also approved the listing in spite of the high share of coins concentrated in the hands of Trump and his partners, which would normally represent a red flag because of the risk that dumping of tokens by insiders could collapse the price and hurt other investors, some executives said.
After reaching an all-time high of $75.35 on April 19, just two days after its launch, $TRUMP crashed to the $7 range by early April, leaving many holders nursing losses. It was trading around $9.55 Thursday.
'When the president of the United States launches a meme coin, I thought I might as well put some money inside,' said Carl 'Moon' Runefelt, a Dubai-based crypto investor who runs a bitcoin trading channel on YouTube called the 'Moon Show.' Runefelt said he bought $300,000 worth of the meme coin in tranches at between $50 and $60: 'It's probably one of my worst trades, unfortunately.'
The Reuters analysis showed that eight of the 10 largest crypto exchanges by market share listed the coin within 48 hours of its release. The ninth, Coinbase, added $TRUMP to its listings roadmap on January 18 – indicating it had decided to accept it - and listed the coin three days later. The tenth, Upbit, listed $TRUMP on February 13. That was much faster than they've done on average with the biggest meme coins.
Reuters examined how long it took the same 10 exchanges - Binance, Gate.io, Bitget, MEXC, OKX, Coinbase, Bybit, Upbit, Crypto.com and HTX - to list the four other largest meme coins launched since 2022. These, measured by market cap on May 29, are Pepe, Bonk, Fartcoin and dogwifhat. All 10 exchanges listed Pepe and Bonk. Nine listed dogwifhat, and seven listed Fartcoin.
On average, the 10 exchanges took 129 days to list those coins. For $TRUMP, they took an average of four. Asked for comment about why they listed $TRUMP so quickly, Bitget, MEXC, OKX, Coinbase and Upbit all said they had not cut any corners with their vetting process. The other five exchanges did not respond to Reuters' questions.
Three – Bitget, Coinbase, MEXC – said they moved fast to respond to overwhelming demand for the $TRUMP coin. 'The crypto space was buzzing with the hype and, as any other token with a growing craze, it was imperative to add TRUMP,' Gracy Chen, Bitget's CEO, said in a statement.
Chen said the fact that Trump himself announced the coin on his social media accounts 'should kind of solve the compliance issue,' citing the fact that 'he's the president of the United States.'
Reuters found no suggestion that Trump or anyone related to his businesses exerted pressure on the exchanges. In response to a request for comment, a White House press official told Reuters the president's assets had been placed in a family trust: 'There are no conflicts of interest because the president isn't managing the assets. Any insinuation that there is a conflict of interest is irresponsible.'
The official referred specific questions about the meme coin to the Trump Organization, which did not respond to Reuters. Coinbase said the $TRUMP token got no special exceptions and the exchange followed its normal process when listing the coin. Paul Grewal, Coinbase's chief legal officer, said many people had to work over the weekend to get the listing done quickly, but no steps were skipped.
'Given the information that was shared publicly, we were confident that users could engage with the token positively and safely,' Grewal told Reuters. Coinbase listed $TRUMP as an 'experimental' token to indicate it comes with 'certain risks, including price swings,' according to the company's website. — Reuters
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