The memecoin “Restore the Republic” (RTR), which was themed around Donald Trump, experienced a significant crash, losing 95% of its value after it was revealed that the coin had no official connection to the Trump family.
Initially, the coin’s value surged to $0.1490 following a tweet from Ryan Fournier, chairman of the Students for Trump association, who claimed that RTR was an official Trump token. However, this claim was quickly debunked by Eric Trump, who denied any affiliations between the Trump family and the RTR coin.
On August 6, Eric Trump posted on social media expressing his interest in cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) but did not mention any specific token. The following day, he warned his followers to be wary of fake tokens, stating that the only official Trump-related project had not yet been announced.
Despite this, Ryan Fournier made a now-deleted post on August 8, falsely linking RTR to Trump, which temporarily boosted the coin’s price. However, after Eric Trump reiterated that RTR was not connected to his family, the coin’s price plummeted as investors sold off their holdings.
Following the crash, the price of RTR fell to $0.0073, with significant losses in the 24 hours after Eric Trump’s denial. Some crypto traders, including Kaleo and SlumDOGE Millionaire, urged Eric Trump not to launch a token, fearing it could negatively impact Donald Trump’s political chances. Their concerns highlight the potential political risks associated with associating a Trump-branded cryptocurrency with the ongoing election campaigns.
Donald Trump Jr. also addressed the rumors surrounding a Trump-themed cryptocurrency. Although he had previously hinted at a major development in the crypto world, he clarified in an August 9 interview that there were no plans to launch a memecoin.
Instead, he mentioned plans to develop a larger crypto platform aimed at challenging the traditional banking system. This platform, he said, would focus on promoting financial fairness and would be announced through official channels in the future.
In his response to the crypto community, Donald Trump Jr. emphasized the importance of avoiding fake tokens falsely claiming to be associated with the Trump brand. He reassured the public that any official project would be communicated directly by the Trump family and would be designed to be fair to all participants.
Additionally, some users on social media, like Trader Carver, criticized the broader crypto space, labeling most tokens as scams and urging Trump Jr. to study the history of money and Bitcoin to better understand the industry.