Anika Begay
Amid the buzz surrounding political tokens and the heated race for the White House between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, a token known as Restore the Republic (RTR) has emerged. According to Fortune, the cryptocurrency, which capitalized on rumors surrounding the Trump family, defrauded investors and led to the loss of large amounts of funds.
RTR’s Short Saga Revealed
For the relationshipIt all started on Thursday when the RTR token suddenly surfaced on the Solana blockchain. Speculation immediately swirled that this new cryptocurrency was connected to former President Donald Trump or his family.
According to Fortune, the spark was a recent event social media posts from Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, who revealed that they were planning a “big announcement” related to cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Fueled by the Trump name, the rumors quickly escalated. Ryan Fournier, president of the pro-Trump group Students for Trump, fanned the flames by posting that the “official Trump currency” was Restore the Republic.
Within six hours of trading, investors had invested over $155 million in the token, sending its value skyrocketing by over 120%. However, the bubble burst just as quickly as it inflated.
An hour after hitting a high of $0.022, RTR has plunged more than 80%. The catalyst? A tweet from Eric Trump himself warned users about “fake tokens” and clarified that the Trump family’s “official project” had not yet been announced.
Bitcoinist reported Thursday that sources believe the Trump family’s new crypto project could include investments in Real World Assets (RWA), tentatively called “World Liberty,” using blockchain technology. However, this is just a rumor at this time, as the Trumps have yet to make a full announcement.
Trump’s Cryptocurrency Craze
Following the RTR token incident, Donald Trump Jr. attempted to distance himself from his family, urging speculators not to associate any crypto project with the Trump family “unless you hear it directly from us.”
The former president’s son acknowledged the appeal of “meme coins and that culture,” but stressed the need to avoid confusing legitimate initiatives with these scams.
The creator of the RTR token, Kanpai Labs, has been accused of orchestrating a “hard rug pull,” a type of crypto fraud in which developers abruptly abandon a project, absconding with investors’ funds, the report says.
Interestingly, the founder of Kanpai, known as “Bags,” claimed that the Trump family was behind the initiative. token and even chose the launch date, only to later delete the post and deny any involvement.
The RTR incident is not an isolated case in the Trump-themed cryptocurrency space. Other memecoins like Super Trump (STRUMP) and MAGA (TRUMP) have historically seen price spikes during political optimism for the former president.
At the time of writing, MAGA was trading at $2.95, down 14% in the last 24 hours and more than 55% in the last two weeks.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
