Trump’s meme coin exceeds $13b market capitalisation

To begin arrest, deportation of illegal immigrants from day one in office
A new meme coin launched by President-elect Donald Trump at the weekend has hit a market capitalisation of $13 billion, marking his latest venture into cryptocurrency and merchandise sales in the lead-up to his inauguration.

Trump announced the launch of his meme coin, $TRUMP, in a Truth Social post on Friday, saying the cryptocurrency is celebrating “WINNING” the presidential election and his upcoming inauguration.

The price of $TRUMP rapidly rose by more than 300% by Saturday morning, and kept rallying Saturday night before hitting just over $65 as of noon Sunday, reaching a market cap of $13.3 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

The asset—hosted on the Solana blockchain—briefly surpassed $75 early Sunday morning, bringing the total market cap of all tokens in circulation to $15 billion.

The meme coin’s developers have limited the supply of $TRUMP to 200 million coins at launch before expanding the overall supply to 1 billion over the next three years, according to the coin’s website.

MEANWHILE, raids to detain and deport immigrants living in the United States without permission are set to begin on the first full day of Trump’s administration, according to sources speaking to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

Details about where these operations—threatened by Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan—will begin remain unclear. Earlier reports suggested deportations could start in Chicago, a city with a significant migrant population, as early as Tuesday. However, Homan told The Washington Post on Saturday that the Trump administration is reconsidering after the location was leaked. Trump has pledged to oversee the largest deportation program in US history.

Homan has emphasized that criminals and gang members will be prioritized in these raids.