Did Trump Really Drop an Official Memecoin?

DJT, a Solana memecoin, soared today amidst unsubstantiated reports it is tied to Trump. 

What's the scoop?

• Unverified Report and Market Impact: Tech, politics, and culture publication Pirate Wires posted yesterday on Twitter claiming Donald Trump is launching a token named DJT. Following the post, DJT's trading volume hit $363M in the past 24 hours, and its price surged 385%.
• Speculative Connections and No Confirmation: The report suggested Trump's son Barron, a claim further substantiated by (supposedly) Barron’s best friend, Bo. However, the Trump campaign and organization have not responded.
• Suspicious Posting and Unlocked Liquidity: The contract address was shared in replies to the Pirate Wires post, which, upon analysis, showed DJT's liquidity is not locked, a significant red flag for memecoins, and that the token had a “build-the-wall” feature that could be activated to halt trading.
• KuCoin Funding and Limited Visibility: Further potential red flags come from the fact that the token was funded from KuCoin, which is inaccessible to U.S. citizens. Also, DJT pools had minimal liquidity visibility on platforms like Dexscreener, working correctly only on specific tools like Dextools.
• Concentration and Trump's Silence: The top owner holds 67% of the supply, a high risk of manipulation. Despite his reputation, Trump has not claimed or bragged about the coin's success, which is unusual for him.

Bankless Take:

The DJT memecoin's surge certainly exhibits all of the hallmarks of a classic crypto grift. The sketchy nature of the source, suspicious dissemination of the contract address, unlocked liquidity, KuCoin funding, limited visibility, and high owner concentration are all significant red flags.

All that said, we don't know for sure one way or the other. In a new era of celebrity memecoins, it's not unreasonable that Trump would be dissatisfied seeing unofficial tickers like TREMP pump without him getting a take. Further, Pirate Wires is operated by the CMO of venture fund Founders Fund which is run by Trump's close 2016 Silicon Valley ally (and outspoken BTC bull) Peter Thiel.