Several websites selling Trump-branded products have started to accept the Trump memecoin for payment, in an effort to win over more of the president's supporters.
GetTrumpWatches.com, GetTrumpFragrances.com and GetTrumpSneakers.com — all of which license the brand of President Donald Trump — are now letting customers checkout with $Trump, along with credit cards and Bitcoin.
The “official” Trump memecoin was released on Jan. 17. and the president promoted it on social media. The value of the coin has gyrated over time, and is now down significantly from its peak. But it still had a total market cap of $5.4 billion on Tuesday afternoon in New York, according to the website CoinMarketCap.com.
In recent days, other businesses, such as the travel site Travala.com, also began accepting $Trump for payment.
The payment options offer one small response to questions about what the president's memecoin might be used for, other than speculation.
These efforts are only the latest attempts to encourage people to use cryptocurrencies to pay for online purchases. Some crypto natives have begun using stablecoins, which have their value pegged to a traditional currency, to transact. But cryptocurrencies with rapidly fluctuating values, like $Trump, have generally failed to gain traction as payment methods.
The Trump coin could potentially earn billions for Trump and create a significant conflict of interest for his administration, which is looking to remake the regulatory landscape for digital assets. Entities associated with Trump will be given most of the coins as they are unlocked over time.
Already, trading in the coin has likely generated at least $11.4 million in fees for entities linked to the president since its launch, Bloomberg reported earlier.
The memecoin was initially launched through an exchange on the Solana blockchain, and currently has about 700,000 holders, according to the tracking service Solscan. To use the memecoin on Trump-affiliated online stores, customers have to choose the “Solana Pay” option.
Trump has long sold branded merchandise, but he recently made a big push into the world of cryptocurrencies. He promoted collections of nonfungible tokens with pictures of him in various heroic poses. Trump and his sons have also announced their involvement with World Liberty Financial, a digital asset business that promises to let people earn a yield on their holdings. It has not yet launched.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
