People have become millionaires after investing in US President-elect Donald Trump’s memecoin.

If you’ve not been keeping a close eye on the cryptocurrency market lately, you’ll have completely missed the fact that Trump released his $Trump memecoin as he prepares to take office and become inaugurated tomorrow (January 20).

The soon-to-be 47th president of the US sent out a tweet from his official Truth Social, his social media platform account, telling his followers to join him in ‘winning’ to celebrate his presidency.

The website said: “This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds.”

However, it came with a disclaimer to confirm that the coin is ‘not intended to be, or the subject of’ an investment opportunity and it’s also ‘not political and has nothing to do with’ any campaigns, persons or offices.

Donald Trump’s memecoin has reached new heights of success (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

It states that it is not intended to be an ‘expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol $TRUMP’ and it’s also not ‘intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type’.

Co-ordinated by CIC Digital LLC, which is an affiliate of the Trump Organization, the meme coin did something that many could not have anticipated- it skyrocketed into the billions overnight.

Within just six hours, it went from a few cents to $14, and it just kept climbing from there.

Hours after its launch, the market capitalisation was nearly $5.5bn, as per CoinMarketCap.com, making 500 traders millionaires thanks to their investments.

While only some 200 million coins have been issued, the website stated that 800 million will be released in the next three years for traders to snatch up.

But while many have become super rich thanks to their investments, others have accused Trump of benefiting from the coin.

Nick Tomaino, a crypto venture capitalist, said on social media: “Trump owning 80 percent and timing launch hours before inauguration is predatory and many will likely get hurt by it.”

The $Trump coin made 525 people millionaires (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

According to SolanaFloor, a news site which reports on digital finance, wrote on X: “A trader is up $29.8M on $TRUMP, Donald Trump’s official memecoin on Solana. He spent $1.09M to buy 5,971,750 TRUMP coins, now worth $30.8M in under 2 hours—a 2,634% gain. The trader has not sold any coins yet.”

At the time of writing, the memecoin has become the second largest on the market, with a 272 per cent increase in investment.

According to onchain data, it had over $3 billion in trading volumes within hours of it going live, it boasted a $2 billion market capitalization and it even brought in early buyers over $70 million in paper gains, and around $1 million for the smaller traders.

As this is the first time a president has given their likeness to a memecoin, it’s a pretty big deal in the crypto world.

According to a screenshot of traders, over 525 people became $TRUMP millionaires in less than 24 hours of investing in the coins.

UNILAD contacted Donald Trump’s representatives for comment.

President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum has argued the ‘entire world’ will still call the Gulf by its original name.

Within the first 24 hours of being sworn in as the President of the United States for the second time, Donald Trump wasted no time signing off on multiple executive orders.

By January 21, the White House’s website listed 25 executive orders including one about ‘restoring names that honor American greatness’.

Donald Trump’s executive order

The order argues that it’s ‘in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes’, and so the naming of the US’ ‘national treasures, including breathtaking natural wonders and historic works of art, should honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our Nation’s rich past’.

Two examples listed including the renaming of North America’s highest peak to ‘Mount McKinley’ to honor President McKinley. And the second? Well, the Gulf of Mexico being renamed as ‘Gulf of America’.

The order notes the area as being ‘an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America’ and ‘a crucial artery for America’s early trade and global commerce’.

Reflecting on its ‘remarkable body of water’ alongside ‘natural resources and wildlife,’ it resolved: “The Gulf will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy, and in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.”

And Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum has since addressed the executive order, arguing Trump can call the Gulf whatever he likes, but it will ultimately always be known as the Gulf of Mexico to the rest of the world.

Mexico’s response to Donald Trump

Trump signed off on the Gulf of Mexico now being known as the Gulf of America (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In a briefing on the morning of Tuesday (January 21), Sheinbaum said, as quoted by DW.com: “He says that he will call it the ‘Gulf of America’ on its continental shelf. For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico.”

Elsewhere in the speech, she noted it’s ‘important to always keep a cool head and refer to signed agreements, beyond actual speeches’.

She added: “Regarding the decrees that President Donald Trump signed yesterday, I would like to say the following: The people of Mexico can be sure that we will always defend our sovereignty and our independence.”

A Donald Trump ‘memecoin’ that turned hundreds of people into millionaires took a hit after the incoming First Lady Melania Trump launched a coin of her own.

Because even when you’re about to be put in charge of one of the most powerful countries in the world, there’s still time for a side hustle.

Melania announced the launch of her ‘Official Melania Meme’ in a post on Twitter last night (January 19), just hours after the ‘$Trump’ memecoin was presented to the world.

The coins come as Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office today (January 20), when he will be inaugurated as the 47th president taking over from Joe Biden.

Donald and Melania Trump’s memecoins arrived just before the presidential inauguration (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

What is $Trump?

Trump launched his very own cryptocurrency with a post on his Truth Social social media account, where he encouraged followers to join him in ‘winning’ to celebrate his presidency.

A disclaimer on Trump’s website points out that the coin is ‘not intended to be’ an investment opportunity, nor is it a ‘political’ crypto, but instead declared: “This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds.”

Trump fans quickly jumped on the bandwagon and bought the coin, and its value soon skyrocketed up to an incredible $14 billion.

Within just six hours, $Trump went from a few cents to $14 and just kept climbing, prompting more than 500 people to declare themselves $TRUMP millionaires less than 24 hours of investing in the coins.

Trump’s memecoin was not advertised as an investment opportunity (X/@realdonaldtrump)

What is $Melania?

Seemingly not wanting her husband to have all the fun, it wasn’t long before Melania announced her own memecoin.

$Melania has been launched on the Solana blockchain, the same as Trump’s, and quickly received interest of its own as its value pushed to more than $5, resulting in a fully diluted market cap of over $5 billion, Forbes reports.

Melania’s memecoin had a negative impact on Trump’s (X/@MELANIATRUMP)

How has $Melania impacted $Trump?

Though cryptocurrency seems to have become a family business in the Trump household, unfortunately, the launch of Melania’s coin initially had some adverse impacts on the incoming president’s crypto as Trump’s memecoin crashed by around 40 percent.

Experts at The Kobeissi Letter, which provides commentary on the global capital markets, described the rapidly changing landscape as ‘insane’.

In a post on Twitter, it wrote: “The coin just erased over $5 billion in market cap in a matter of seconds. $MELANIA coin is being viewed as a competitor against $TRUMP coin. This has resulted in a sharp drop in demand for $TRUMP.”

In spite of the initial impact, Trump didn’t seem to see Melania as a competitor as her social media posts announcing the coin were shared to Trump’s own platforms.

His confidence appears to have paid off as $Trump has since made a recovery, rising up up more than 110 percent from the low it hit after the $Melania launch.

Selena Gomez has addressed a video of her dancing with Édgar Ramírez that’s doing the rounds online.

Gomez is dating record producer and songwriter Benny Blanco, but recently looked quite cosy with her Emilia Pérez co-star Edgar Ramírez at a Sabrina Carpenter gig in New York.

While the video was deleted by the original poster, it’s still gone viral on TikTok as people questioned if Gomez and Blanco’s relationship is on the rocks.

Édgar Ramírez and Selena Gomez attend this year’s New York Film Festival (Dominik Bindl/WireImage)

This seems to be far from the case, however, and the ‘Lose You to Love Me’ hitmaker has addressed the matter.

Sharing another photo of her and Ramírez at a different concert, Gomez penned to her Instagram Story: “Omg how dare I dance with my bestie.”

Meanwhile the 32-year-old and Blanco have continued to gush about each other on their social media pages, making it clear that they’re still very much together.

Commenting on a photo of Gomez at last night’s New York Film Festival (October 1), Blanco wrote: “Sorry just picking my jaw off the floor.”

Someone replied to his comment hailing him as ‘the luckiest guy in the world’, to which Gomez responded with: “I’m the luckiest girl.”

Cute alert!

Elsewhere at the event, the musician, actress and Rare Beauty founder was asked about her billionaire status.

She officially joined the billionaire rich list last month, BBC News reported at the time. It’s said that Gomez has a $1.3 billion fortune.

When asked about being a billionaire last night, the singer seemed reluctant to speak on the matter.

“Oh goodness,” she replied to Entertainment Tonight’s question. “I’m very grateful. I personally think it’s distasteful to talk about money, but I really am giving all the credit to people who buy the products.”

Gomez added: “They’re the ones that made this dream of mine come true, so I’m really, really honored and just happy.”

Selena Gomez is officially a billionaire (@selenagomez/Instagram)

While Gomez was already worth a pretty penny as a result of her music and acting career, it’s her beauty brand that helped her reach billionaire status.

She founded Rare Beauty in 2020 and it’s already reported to be worth $2 billion, says Entrepenur.com.

It’s said that the company made more than $400 million in net sales in the 12 months ending in February of 2024.

Gomez is now one of the youngest billionaires in Hollywood, joining the likes of Rihanna, 36, who also has her own successful line of beauty products.