Key Takeaways
- Donald Trump’s TRUMP memecoin surged over 20% to reach a $705 million market cap on Friday.
- Public Citizen reported that investors lost $4.7 billion on Trump-linked crypto ventures.
- Concerns over Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto profits stalled the Senate’s CLARITY Act.
TRUMP Memecoin Rebounds Despite 2026 Downtrend
U.S. President Donald Trump’s memecoin, TRUMP, briefly surged toward $3 Friday as the digital asset appeared to pare some of the losses it had sustained since peaking at just over $3.23 on Aug. 22. However, the memecoin remains in the red in 2026, having dropped from its Jan. 1 opening price of $4.80.
As shown by daily market data, TRUMP rose from its Thursday low of $2.31 to peak at $2.93 before sliding to $2.82. Despite the retreat, the memecoin was still up by more than 20%, making it one of a handful of digital assets with double-digit gains on the day. The jump also saw the cryptocurrency’s market cap climb to $705 million.
The surge came as the U.S. nonprofit Public Citizen released a report estimating investor losses in Trump-linked crypto products at $4.7 billion. Citing 2019 comments where the president dismissed cryptocurrencies, the report suggested Trump pivoted after realizing there were “billions to be made hawking thin air to supporters, supplicants, and speculators.”
According to the report, Trump’s profits from crypto came from loyal supporters, foreign governments and entities seeking to curry favor with the U.S. government.
“The profit Trump reaps from crypto, however, does not come out of thin air. It comes from foreign governments. It comes from pardon seekers, corporate interests, and targets of government investigations. It comes from retirement funds. It comes from MAGA supporters and other Americans, just looking to make some money and following the advice of our billionaire president,” the report said, citing $1.4 billion Trump made from crypto in 2025.
Despite White House denials, Public Citizen claims Trump and his family still control his namesake crypto ventures—a conflict of interest and profit scale that has fueled opposition and stalled the Republican-led Senate’s CLARITY Act.
Meanwhile, the report breaks down the profits made by Trump on each of his crypto projects alongside corresponding paper losses for investors. While the memecoin accounts for the largest share of profits and losses, the report notes that Trump’s non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, earned him $7.2 million in licensing fees and royalties across four sales series. However, the NFTs, which were originally sold for $12.3 million in aggregate, have since dropped to approximately $3 million in market value—an unrealized loss of at least $9.3 million.
