TL;DR
$TRUMP, a meme coin, cost Trump supporters $12 billion. It’s the classic pump-and-dump, preying on naive investors and mirroring past financial meltdowns.
Story
Another day, another crypto scam. This time, it’s Trump’s meme coin, $TRUMP, leaving supporters $12 billion poorer. It peaked at $73.43 then crashed to $11.27—an 80% drop. Sounds familiar? It’s the same old pump-and-dump dressed as innovation.
Here’s how it works: create hype, lure in naive investors with promises of quick riches, then cash out, leaving them holding worthless digital tokens. Like a Ponzi scheme, early investors get paid with later investors’ money, until the whole thing collapses like a house of cards.
Remember the 2008 housing bubble? Or Enron’s creative accounting? History repeats itself, just with new costumes. These scams prey on our greed, promising something for nothing. The $TRUMP fiasco mirrors these past crises, highlighting our collective amnesia.
‣ Meme coin: A cryptocurrency based on an internet joke or trend, often lacking real-world value. ‣ Pump and dump: Artificially inflating an asset’s price through coordinated buying, followed by a massive sell-off, leaving latecomers with losses. ‣ Ponzi scheme: A fraudulent investment operation where early investors are paid with funds from later investors, rather than actual profits.
This isn’t just numbers on a screen. Real people lost their savings, believing the hype. Some likely bet their retirements on a meme. This is the human cost of unchecked greed and regulatory loopholes. Who’s laughing now?
These crashes reveal a painful truth: in the world of finance, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And when the bubble bursts, it’s the little guy who gets soaked.
Advice
Meme coins are gambling, not investing. Don’t fall for hype. If you can’t explain it, don’t buy it.