Incoming first lady Melania Trump launched her own cryptocurrency on the eve of her husband’s inauguration, making billions in a matter of minutes.
"The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now," she posted on X on Sunday night, Jan. 19, attracting nearly 20,000 investors within the first hour.
It comes a day after Donald Trump launched his own $TRUMP crypto coin, which currently has a total market valuation of about $12bn (£9.8bn).
The $MELANIA coin meanwhile, currently stands at around $1.7bn.
On its official website, the crypto coin is described as a way to "show support for and engagement with the values embodied by Melania".
Disclaimers on the websites of both the $Trump and $Melania coins said they were "not intended to be, or the subject of" an investment opportunity.
But the launch of the Melania coin caused the Trump coin to immediately crash in value, wiping billions off its market price. It has since recovered some of the losses.
Trump had previously labelled crypto a "scam" but appeared to change his mind during the 2024 election campaign, becoming the first presidential candidate to accept cryptocurrency donations.