“I can't think of anyone else who is a greater source of meta than Donald Trump.”
Steven Steele, chief marketing officer of MAGA Memecoin TRUMP/USD, the Trump-themed cryptocurrency that has been making waves for being the former president’s biggest portfolio holding, thinks it is “increasingly likely” the 45th president becomes the 47th president of the United States.
In that case, we could be provided with “four more years of hilarity and catalysts,” Steele told Benzinga in an interview.
Polls have the former and the current presidents neck-and-neck, as have prediction markets, which gave Trump a two-point edge over Joe Biden, as of May 4.
Whether he secures a successful re-election bid or not, interest in Donald Trump will likely intensify between now and Nov. 5.
And with it, the appeal of investing in TRUMP, Steele said. He told Benzinga he cannot think of any person that will be covered more than Trump going into the election season “and probably beyond.”
How MAGA Memecoin Turned ‘The Most Covered Person’ Into A Cryptocurrency
Andrew Kang, a crypto venture capitalist, sees Trump as “one of the best attention monopolizers in the world.”
His fund Mechanism Capital announced on Feb. 6 that it had accumulated TRUMP — the first meme coin than can “rival Dogecoin DOGE/USD and Shiba Inu SHIB/USD.”
Indeed, among meme coins, MAGA Memecoin is somewhat of a pioneer. It was the first to successfully introduce a meme coin based on a real-world person or cultural phenomenon. Speculating on the attention created by certain events, such as the death of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, has since become a staple of the meme coin circus.
Steele, who initially was just an investor in TRUMP, said the “enormous potential” made him join as chief marketing officer. Following its inception in August 2023, TRUMP grew to a preliminary peak of $448 million in market capitalization on March 5 and is currently trading around a valuation of $220 million.
Steele attributes this rise in value to several key points:
Consistent marketing: MAGA Memecoin holds weekly spaces for its community and publishes Trump-themed memes on its X account.
Philanthropic action: The project has donated over $1 million in Ethereum ETH/USD for 37 straight weeks to support for homeless veterans and the prevention of child trafficking. Steele pointed out this was one of key points that drew him in, with the National Veterans Homeless Support being able to scale its operation thanks to the donations.
Partnerships: MAGA Memecoin recently announced it had onboarded controversial political figure and self-proclaimed “agent provocateur” Roger Stone as a partner.
But the inevitable consequence of success is competition, a rule that applies even — or particularly — to meme coins.
‘To Get Unprecedented Results, You Have To Do Unprecedented Things’
In a March interview with Coindesk, Steele said he wants TRUMP “up there with a DOGE or SHIB, that kind of scale and market cap and popularity.”
Asked how to make that a reality, Steele told Benzinga, “To get unprecedented results, you have to do unprecedented things.”
Signing Stone is one example of that, Steele pointed out, as it brought MAGA Memecoin a lot of “normie” investors that bought TRUMP as their first cryptocurrency.
But since Steele’s March interview, the political meme coin landscape has changed. TRUMP isn’t the only politicial meme coin anymore.
In fact, it currently isn’t even the biggest one. BODEN BODEN/USD a meme coin parodying Biden with intentionally poor spelling and cartoons, has recorded an astronomic surge to over $700 million in market capitalization and is currently trading at a valuation of around $290 million. The emergence of a quasi-rival has even sparked a prediction market about which meme coin would get to $1 billion first (BODEN is leading TRUMP 54% to 46%).
Steele told Benzinga he is aware of the coin — and others that have boarded the “PoliFi” meta — but isn’t worried by or interested in them.
Indeed, a de facto rivalry between the two meme coins, similar to that between Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, could be positive and create more interest and loyalty among holders.
But what does the man whose face is on the memes powering MAGA Memecoin think of all of this?
Read Also: Dogecoin Is ‘Primed For Higher’ But Pepe Is ‘On A Moon Mission,’ Exclaims Trader
‘More Than Enough Reasons To Believe’ Trump Knows Of TRUMP
Donald Trump’s stance on Bitcoin BTC/USD and crypto has shifted from considering them a “disaster waiting to happen” and being “not a big fan” in 2021 to now expressing enjoyment with crypto and the “crazy new currencies” apart from Bitcoin.
Steele thinks there are “more than enough reasons to believe” the former president is aware of the meme coin his personality started, especially considering Stone was a consultant for Trump’s 2016 campaign.
He suggested that Trump may have been referring to MAGA Memecoin in his mention of “crazy new currencies.”
Steele also shared that Trump is aware and a fan of Shawn Farash, the host of the project’s weekly spaces and a proficient Trump impersonator.
Trump’s allocation of TRUMP was an intentional “strategically savvy and hilarious” move by the project to promote the coin. And, just as planned, it has since become Trump’s biggest holding.
But what if Trump sells “his bag” of MAGA Memecoin? If the meme coin were to appreciate going into the election season, Trump’s current holdings of $2.73 million may prompt him to think about cashing out.
Steele acknowledged the possibility but does not see it as a problem. Similar to the 2021 incident when Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold and donated his allocation of SHIB, Steele thinks it may even have a positive impact on MAGA Memecoin.
Whether TRUMP can really become, as Andrew Kang said, the first meme coin to break the reign of dog-themed incumbents remains to be seen. Meme coins like Pepe PEPE/USD and dogwifhat WIF/USD — yet another dog coin — hold a substantial lead over political meme coins.
But when considering the combination of the “memecoin supercycle” with the “weirdest campaign” the incumbent president has ever been in, who knows what may happen between now and November?
Read Next: Trump Says London, Paris No Longer Recognizable: ‘We Can’t Let That Happen Here’
Image created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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