Early buyers of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin cashed in big, but most investors got burned. A handful of well-timed traders made hundreds of mns of USD from the launch of Trump coin — the cryptocurrency first issued by the Trump family in January — while more than 810k wallets suffered steep losses, The New York Times reports citing crypto forensics companies Chainalysis and Nansen.

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The numbers tell the story: The token, announced just three days before Trump’s inauguration, saw its value go to USD 75 from USD 0.18, before crashing back down to around USD 17 this week, leaving retail investors holding the bag. One early trader made a USD 109 mn profit in just two days, while 31 major players walked away with a collective USD 669 mn, the companies’ analysis found. Meanwhile, total investor losses now exceed USD 2 bn, with many still holding onto devalued tokens in hopes of a rebound.

That’s just how memecoins work: The pump-and-dump pattern is a well-worn playbook in the memecoin industry, where early movers — often highly sophisticated traders — buy low, push up prices, and cash out quickly, leaving latecomers to absorb the losses. The pattern has regulators watching closely, with New York’s Department of Financial Services already flagging memecoins as highly speculative and easily manipulated.

But this hasn’t stopped Trump and his team from doubling down on crypto. Trump made waves on the campaign trail with the launch of World Liberty Financial, which offered certain wealthy investors access to a cryptocurrency called WLFI. In addition, the parent company of Trump’s social media company launched TruthFi last month, a financial services arm focused on BTC, among other cryptocurrencies.

The Trump family and its partners aren’t walking away empty-handed either, with nearly USD 100 mn in trading fees flowing into their pockets from transactions on the memecoin, though most of that money hasn’t been withdrawn yet. The timing is also raising eyebrows — Trump is moving to loosen crypto regulations, and critics say that could make it harder to hold him and his team accountable.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed in early trading this morning, with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.2%, the Kospi flat, and the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both in the green, up 0.6% and 1.9%, respectively.

EGX30

30,014

0.0% (YTD: +0.9%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 50.21

Sell 50.35

USD (CIB)

Buy 50.23

Sell 50.33

Interest rates (CBE)

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

12,469

+0.3% (YTD: +3.6%)

ADX

9,586

+0.2% (YTD: +1.8%)

DFM

5,238

-0.1% (YTD: +1.6%)

S&P 500

6,026

-1.0% (YTD: +2.5%)

FTSE 100

8,701

-0.3% (YTD: +6.5%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5,325

-0.6% (YTD: +8.8%)

Brent crude

USD 74.66

+0.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.31

-2.9%

Gold

USD 2,888

+0.4%

BTC

USD 95,028

-1.6% (YTD: +1.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 was essentially flat at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.4 bn (8.9% below the 90-day average). Local investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 0.9% YTD.

In the green: Juhayna (+5.7%), ADIB (+2.6%), and Sidpec (+2.4%).

In the red: Ibnsina Pharma (-2.0%), TMG Holding (-1.7%), and Orascom Development (-1.5%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) Egypt’s board approved a proposal to double the bank’s authorized capital to EGP 20 bn, according to a disclosure to the EGX (pdf). The board also signed off on increasing the bank’s issued and paid-up capital to EGP 12 bn from EGP 6 bn by issuing one bonus share for every share currently held.

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