Hyperliquid News Today: Trump Meme Coin Dips 93% as Hype Fades, Valuation Slumps to $1 Billion

Trump's Meme Coin Journey: From Hype to Market Normalcy

Donald Trump's foray into the world of meme coins came to a muted close in 2025. The official TRUMP token, launched with fanfare during inauguration week, saw its price plummet to under $5 by year-end. The token had briefly reached a peak of $73.43 in January, capturing headlines with its viral momentum and political branding according to a report.

TRUMP was positioned as a "digital collectible" tied to Trump's political identity, rather than a traditional investment or utility token. The project drew inspiration from a high-profile moment in Butler, Pennsylvania, when Trump rallied supporters with his "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" chant. This emotional hook fueled early enthusiasm but failed to sustain long-term value as research shows.

By December, the token had lost more than 93% of its peak value, trading at around $5. The decline was mirrored in trading volume, which dropped to roughly $115 million per day, a far cry from its early-year frenzy. The TRUMP token, once the third-largest meme coin globally, had settled into a much quieter role within the market according to financial analysis.

The Meme Coin's Lifecycle

TRUMP's journey was marked by sharp swings in narrative and price. In April, the token briefly regained attention with an offer of a dinner invitation at Trump National Golf Club for top 220 holders. The gesture pushed the price up by about 50%, underscoring how the token's movement was driven by storytelling rather than fundamentals according to market reports.

The Trump family's broader crypto footprint expanded in 2025, with the launch of World Liberty Financial's WLFI token and the USD1 stablecoin. These projects drew scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, especially as it became clear that Trump-affiliated entities had generated at least $350 million from token sales and trading fees by March according to an audit.

Despite the early hype, TRUMP's utility remained limited. The project never introduced any tangible use cases, and the token's value became increasingly dependent on unlock schedules and tokenomics. Over the summer and fall, the price oscillated between $5 and $6, with no clear path to recovery as data shows.

Political and Regulatory Scrutiny

The token came under renewed scrutiny in November after a House Judiciary Committee report accused the Trump family of entangling their crypto ventures with foreign entities and political leverage. While regulators did not classify TRUMP as a security, lawmakers floated legislation to restrict public officials from profiting off digital assets according to committee findings.

In response, the TRUMP project pivoted toward gamification with the launch of the "Trump Billionaires Club" GameFi initiative. The effort aimed to re-engage casual users through NFTs, token rewards, and interactive games. While it slowed the decline, it failed to reverse the broader trend of waning interest according to market observers.

TRUMP ended 2025 with a valuation of around $1 billion, ranking sixth among meme coins. It remained liquid and active but no longer dominated the market. The token's performance served as a cautionary tale about the fleeting nature of meme-driven hype and the eventual dominance of fundamentals according to market analysis.

What This Means for Investors

For investors, TRUMP's year highlights the risks of speculative tokens driven by celebrity branding rather than real-world utility. The project demonstrated how narrative can drive rapid price surges but also how quickly those surges can fade when the novelty wears off according to financial experts.

Retail investors who entered the market early faced significant losses as the token drifted downward. The project's reliance on token unlocks and supply management created an uneven playing field, where early holders had more control over price movements than retail buyers as data shows.

As 2026 begins, TRUMP stands as a cultural artifact rather than a financial breakthrough. It fused politics, branding, and blockchain into a single experiment that delivered early excitement but ultimately settled into statistical normalcy. For investors, the lesson is clear: hype fades, and math always wins in the end according to market analysis.