Just before assuming office as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump introduced his meme coin – $Trump. The digital token attracted lots of attention, and a couple of days after its launch the combined value of the coins was nearly US$8.5 billion (£6.9 billion).
Trump venturing into meme coins is perhaps not surprising, given his history of branding everything from sneakers to bibles.
The first lady followed suit with a meme coin of her own ($Melania, which briefly outperformed her husband’s coin). History shows us that speculative hypes like this are not new.
Hype can distort rational decision-making, with investors often neglecting due diligence and failing to ask the usual important questions of their investment.