tl;dr
Websites selling official Donald Trump-themed merchandise are now accepting Official Trump (TRUMP) payments, a Solana-based meme coin. Customers can use TRUMP to purchase watches, perfumes, and sneakers at designated websites. While the merchandise is official, the websites are not affiliated with t...
Websites selling official Donald Trump-themed merchandise are now accepting Official Trump (TRUMP) payments, a Solana-based meme coin. Customers can use TRUMP to purchase watches, perfumes, and sneakers at designated websites. While the merchandise is official, the websites are not affiliated with the President's official businesses. In addition to TRUMP payments, Bitcoin and traditional credit card options are available.
Official Trump launched on January 19 and experienced significant trading activity before crashing. Its market cap briefly reached nearly $15 billion but has since dropped to roughly $5.5 billion, with the token trading at $27. Despite its volatile price, TRUMP's use as a currency and investment asset is growing, with travel website Travala and asset manager Rex Shares integrating TRUMP payments and planning a TRUMP-based exchange-traded fund, respectively.
Websites selling official Donald Trump-themed merchandise have begun accepting Official Trump (TRUMP) payments. Customers can use the president's official Solana-based meme coin to purchase Trump-inspired wares such as watches, perfumes, and sneakers. The TRUMP payments are processed through Solana Pay, a free-to-use payments framework built on the Solana network. The meme coin holders can purchase merchandise with their tokens at GetTrumpWatches.com, GetTrumpFragrances.com, and GetTrumpSneakers.com. It’s important to note that while the merch is official—as in, it’s been made with the president’s permission—the websites themselves are not affiliated with the President's official businesses or The Trump Organization. It's unclear when the websites began accepting the cryptocurrency as payments. Bitcoin and traditional credit card payments are also available as payment options. Representatives for the merchandise websites did not immediately respond to Decrypt's requests for comment.
Official Trump launched on January 19, spurring a flurry of trading activity before crashing spectacularly. The token's market cap rose to nearly $15 billion at its peak, meaning that it very briefly was the 14th largest cryptocurrency. That spot is now occupied by Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), which has a $13.6 billion market cap as of writing time, according to CoinGecko. Since then, the presidential meme coin market capitalization has nosedived more than 60% to roughly $5.5 billion. The token is trading at $27 as of writing time, down 22% in the past week, CoinGecko data shows.
Despite the token's volatile price action, its use as a currency and investment asset seems to be growing. Travel website Travala—a Booking.com competitor that accepts cryptocurrency for bookings—also integrated TRUMP payments into its website earlier this month. Meanwhile, asset manager Rex Shares has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer a TRUMP-based exchange-traded fund to investors in the U.S. The fund could begin trading as soon as April, if approved, according to Bloomberg analysts.