Yet another Trump-themed memecoin has soared and cratered—and no, it isn’t officially tied to the actual Trump family.
Yet that’s what people seemed to think of the “Restore the Republic” (RTR) token, whose market capitalization ripped to over $100 million within an hour of its launch on Thursday. As of writing, however, its value has plummeted back to $9.2 million, according to DexScreener, which is a more than 90% reversal.
Another Solana-based RTR token launched at roughly the same time and followed a similar trajectory, with its total market cap now just $335,000. The emergence of both coins follows cryptic tweets from both Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. earlier this week, teasing a project that would “shake up the crypto world with something HUGE.”
Rumors circulated on Thursday that RTR was that project. In a now-deleted tweet, Ryan Fournier—chairman of “Students for Trump”—claimed as much, though his statement was soon refuted by Eric Trump directly.
“I love how much the crypto community is embracing Trump. It’s absolutely incredible, but beware of fake tokens claiming to be part of the Trump project,” tweeted Donald Trump Jr. on Thursday.
“The only official project will be announced directly by us, and it will be fair for everyone,” he continued. “Don't be fooled—stay tuned for the real deal.”
RTR’s collapse comes shortly after developers apparently “rugged” the popular DJT token, which was also once falsely rumored to have connections to the Trump family. Over $2 million worth of the token were sold at once early Tuesday, tanking its market cap from $55 million to just $3 million.
Donald Trump appeared at the Bitcoin conference in late July to promise that he will establish a “strategic Bitcoin reserve” if re-elected President. He also took in millions of dollars in donations and contributions from crypto leaders, who believe he is the best industry-friendly choice for crypto voters.
Still, many remain suspicious of whether his family’s involvement with the industry is genuine adoration or mere pandering for votes and donations. Others fear their enthusiasm could be genuine, but that the family may naively fall prey to promoting less savory, scammy projects within the crypto economy.
“I would reserve judgement,” tweeted David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, on Thursday. “They’re entrepreneurs and capitalists and are going to make all the same mistakes people make that are new to this.”
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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