Nearly 1 million investors who bought President Donald Trump’s meme coin lost a combined $3.81 billion by the end of June, according to a report from crypto analytics firm Nansen. The losses contrast with Trump’s own financial disclosure, which showed he collected $636 million from the same coin—part of a wider $2.2 billion the president’s businesses earned in 2025. Launched in January, the $TRUMP token had lost 97 per cent of its peak value by early July, trading around $1.76.

The structure of Trump’s crypto offerings ensured he profited whether the token’s price rose or fell: his entities control roughly 80 per cent of the coin’s supply and levy transaction fees on every trade. In a related venture, World Liberty Financial, which Trump founded with his sons, the president earned an additional $799 million last year while 85 per cent of investors in its WLFI token posted losses. The White House rejects any suggestion of impropriety, with a spokesperson insisting all actions are ‘in the best interest of the American people’.

For small investors, the damage has been acute. Nicholas Pinto, a Trump voter who put $500,000 into the $TRUMP coin, lost half his stake and dismissively called the operation ‘almost a legal scam’. The token also served as a tool to buy access: the 220 largest holders were invited to a black-tie dinner with the president, and the top 25 to a private reception. New York-based legal academics warn that Trump may face class-action lawsuits from supporters who feel misled; Stephen Gillers, a law professor at NYU, observed that Trump encouraged supporters to expect riches ‘even as he himself was cashing out’. From London, analysts note that such brazen monetisation of elected office mirrors practices in kleptocratic states, with populist figures elsewhere—such as Nigel Farage in Britain and Pauline Hanson in Australia—also trading on political celebrity for personal profit.

Regulatory guardrails are receding. The Trump administration has curtailed oversight of the crypto industry, and congressional attempts to ban the president from promoting his coins have stalled. For now, the meme coin continues to trade, and the investors who lost billions have no clear route to recovery.