Crypto Executives Warn Trump’s Memecoins Harm the Industry (1)

Donald Trump and his wife Melania’s new memecoins ignited criticism from crypto executives who were expecting the digital-asset sector to be treated seriously by the Republican’s incoming US administration.

The president-elect unveiled the “Trump” token on Friday and his wife Melania launched her “Melania” effort on Sunday. The Trump memecoin’s market value hit $15 billion at one point but then briefly slid below $8 billion as Melania’s token took some of the spotlight, figures from aggregator CoinMarketCap show.

The memecoin sector, stuffed with joke tokens like Dogecoin offering little intrinsic value and lots of volatility, is divisive as it ...