Trump's newly launched crypto token soars on his first day in office

US President Donald Trump's new crypto token has soared to more than $10 billion in market value, while enthusiasm over his crypto-friendly administration helped briefly lift Bitcoin to a new record.

Trump's so-called "memecoin" surged from less than $10 on Saturday morning to as high as $74.59 before giving up some of its gains on Monday. The token, branded $TRUMP, was last trading at $33.88, according to cryptocurrency price tracker CoinGecko.

World Liberty Financial, a separate Trump-linked crypto project, also announced on Monday that it had completed an initial token sale, raising $300 million, and would look to issue additional tokens.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, hit a new record of $109,071 on inauguration day when Trump was sworn-in as the 47th US President, but later pared those gains and was last trading at $101,867.40.

The Trump and Melania cryptocurrencies, the latter of which was launched on Sunday, were created on the Solana blockchain.

The price of Solana's coin also rose over the weekend, hitting an all-time high of $294.33 on Sunday.

"I think in the short term there's a chance this could be a sell-the-news event," said Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at crypto asset manager Astronaut Capital, adding that crypto investors had been anticipating some executive actions to be rolled out during Trump's first day in office.

"Bitcoin has already retreated ... We are expecting further volatility here and likely a selloff."

Trump's crypto token launched on Friday, trading under $10, but quickly rose, peaking at $72.62 on Sunday. It traded lower on Monday, falling from $52.15 to trade in the $30 range late in the day.

Eighty percent of Trump coin's tokens are owned by CIC Digital, an affiliate of Trump's business, and another entity called Fight, Fight, Fight, according to its website.

It says the coins are "an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol '$TRUMP'" and are not an investment or security.

Speculative assets

Excitement over expected policy actions that could kickstart a sea change in US cryptocurrency policy has helped turbocharge crypto prices in recent months.

"The market has some great expectations about a bitcoin strategic reserve and a loosening of regulations around digital assets, but it's more likely these developments will be drip-fed over a series of months rather than days," said Dibb.

The huge rise in the new coin prices prompted concern among some analysts. "Meme cryptocurrencies, like these, are prone to large fluctuations, and we generally consider them as speculative assets," said Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at Conotoxia Ltd, in a statement.

Trump's coin represented a blending of the world of digital assets into the political arena, but it also "blurs the lines between governance, profit and influence," stated Justin D’Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.