$1.4 billion. That’s how much Donald Trump made from cryptocurrencies in 2026, according to data compiled by the financial press. While the former president is getting richer, the majority of investors who hold his tokens are showing losses. Business as usual. 💰
🔍 What’s going on?
Trump has monetized his political image through several crypto projects launched since his return to the political scene in 2024. Between NFTs, governance tokens, and partnerships with DeFi platforms, the Trump ecosystem has generated massive trading volumes.
The catch: ordinary holders of these tokens are largely in the red. Most bought at the peak, driven by the hype, and now find themselves with losing positions. This pattern has become a recurring theme in the world of celebrity tokens.
💡 Why does this matter?
This disparity perfectly illustrates the mechanics of wealth transfer in poorly regulated crypto projects. Founders and insiders cash in through royalties, transaction fees, and initial allocations. Retail buyers, on the other hand, bear the market risk without any protected upside.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $60,457 and Ethereum at $1,624. Celebrity tokens, on the other hand, follow dynamics disconnected from traditional crypto fundamentals. They depend solely on the media cycle and the attention their figurehead receives.
📊 Our Take
This is an orchestrated pump, period. When a single person rakes in over a billion while the rank-and-file lose out, this is no longer an investment—it’s pure extraction.
Celebrity tokens are structurally designed to enrich the issuer. Royalties on secondary sales, massive pre-allocations, controlled liquidity: every mechanism favors the creator. Trump isn’t the first, and he won’t be the last. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Logan Paul: same playbook, same results. The difference is the scale. With his political and media influence, Trump was able to generate record volumes. For French regulators, it’s all hot air: the AMF has no jurisdiction over tokens issued offshore through offshore structures. French investors who get involved are operating in an unregulated zone, with no recourse.
We’ll see these tokens continue to bleed out slowly, unless Trump pulls off another PR stunt. For French traders: never touch a token where the founder captures more than 20% of the initial supply or permanent royalties. It’s a losing proposition mathematically over the long term.
✅ Key Takeaway
- Trump made $1.4 billion through cryptocurrencies in 2026
- The majority of his token holders are in the red
- Celebrity tokens structurally favor issuers, not buyers
- Bitcoin is currently trading at $60,457, and Ethereum at $1,624
- The AMF has no jurisdiction over these offshore tokens
What do you think? Should celebrity tokens be banned, or should investors be allowed to take responsibility for their own choices—even the riskiest ones?
🔎 See also
To learn more, check out all our crypto analyses on ActuTrading Crypto 📈
Source: Presse financière
