"Trump's Meme Coin Under Scrutiny: Legal Violations Alleged"

Solana-Based Trump Meme Coin Under Scrutiny for Legal Violations

The Solana-based TRUMP memecoin, launched by former U.S. President Donald Trump, has come under investigation for potential legal violations. Public Citizen, a U.S. nonprofit watchdog, has filed a formal complaint with the Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics, alleging that Trump may have violated laws against gift solicitation. The complaint argues that Trump is soliciting money without offering anything in return, potentially benefiting personally from the sale of the TRUMP token. It also raises concerns about the use of crypto transactions to bypass the Emoluments Clause, allowing foreign funds to flow unchecked.

Meanwhile, Solana's ecosystem has witnessed a remarkable surge in revenues, driven by memecoin trading and AI token speculation. According to a Messari report, Solana applications saw a 213% revenue surge in Q4 2024, with cumulative app revenues leaping from $268 million to $840 million. The report highlighted that Solana's DeFi ecosystem flourished thanks to speculative trading, with leading memecoin launchpad Pump.fun raking in $235 million in Q4 revenues, a 242% quarter-over-quarter increase. DeFi terminal Photon and decentralized exchange Raydium also posted strong gains, earning $140 million and $74 million respectively.

Solana's market position has strengthened as a result of this growth. Daily trading volumes on decentralized exchanges surged 150%, hitting $3.3 billion, while Solana's total value locked (TVL) reached $8.6 billion, ranking second only to Ethereum's $57 billion TVL, per DefiLlama. With a growing focus on both memecoins and AI tokens, Solana is poised for further growth. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen expects AI token market capitalization to soar to $60 billion in 2025, suggesting Solana may have more room to run.

However, the Solana ecosystem has not been without its challenges. In February 2025, Solana-based DEX aggregator Jupiter faced a major security breach as its X account was hacked, promoting a fake memecoin called $MEOW. The scam, which used the name of Jupiter's co-founder, tr