Home Tech The Donald Trump 2.0 scam is already underway

The Donald Trump 2.0 scam is already underway

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The Donald Trump 2.0 scam is already underway

As President Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, scammers and opportunists were already looking to cash in on the new Trump era, including the president himself.

Just days before taking office, Trump launched a memecoin called $TRUMP to “celebrate our victory and have fun,” warning that it was “not intended to be…an investment opportunity.” Trump announced the launch on X and Truth Social, and many wonder if the president’s accounts had been hacked.

However, within hours, thousands of people had invested in the cryptocurrency. The sale was so successful. which, worth billions of dollars, represented almost 90% of Trump’s total wealth. However, like many memecoins, the price of the $TRUMP coin fluctuated wildly and fell significantly on Sunday, and the price drop continued into Monday.

When he was sworn in as president on Monday, the $TRUMP memecoin was worth it just shy of $50 billion, and Trump retains 80 percent of the coins. The currency, which is based on the Solana blockchain, allows anyone anywhere in the world to funnel money directly to the president of the United States.

First Lady Melania Trump also launched her own memecoin on Sunday, and while it hasn’t reached the level of Trump’s memecoin, the coin $MELANIA On Monday it was worth almost $8 billion.

The president and first lady were far from the only ones looking to capitalize on rumors about Trump’s second term, and inauguration weekend in particular. Since his first term, Trump has been a magnet for all kinds of scams and cash grabs, many of them backed by the president himself, and including everything from guitars and shoes to trading cards and coins.

Religion has also been on the table. Lee Greenwood, a country singer, said Sunday that Trump could use a special edition of the “God Bless America” Bible for his inauguration, the same bible that the singer has been selling with Trump since last March.

The “Inauguration Day Edition Bible” has been on sale on Greenwood’s own website, along with the hot pink and camouflage versions of the Bible, for $70 for the past week, but when Trump took office On Monday, the Bible seemed to have already run out.

There are a number of other commemorative items for sale, ranging from dozens of “Inauguration Day” t-shirts and hats sold on platforms like Amazon and Etsy to a special “Inauguration Edition” roast from Victory Coffee. One Texas-based jeweler is even offering to give the president an 8-carat diamond in the shape of his head in what appears to be a marketing gamble.

And because Trump’s inauguration was moved indoors due to severe cold weather, tens of thousands of people who had been sent tickets to attend the event were unable to use them. People have tried to cash in on those tickets, with dozens of listings on eBay offering unused tickets for up to $200 each. The tickets were distributed free of charge by members of the House of Representatives and feature a hologram and the signature of the representative whose office issued them. Many of the listings have already been sold and some sellers are offering multiple tickets.

A dedicated website was also created offering commemorative tickets to the inauguration, some of which are offered for up to $900. It’s unclear who is behind the page, but the site ranks second in a Google search for “commemorative inauguration tickets.”

Scams and cash grabs in Trump world are nothing new. Since Trump took office in 2016, he and his sycophantic supporters have embraced a wide variety of plans. With Trump’s support, many figures have made entire careers of scamming on issues like stolen elections or COVID denialism.

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