A new token allegedly associated with Donald Trump, his family, and his organization emerged this week to scam investors. This time, the fraudsters behind it managed to take advantage of the momentum that recent comments from family members prompted to successfully promote the cryptocurrency to then dump thousands of coins onto unwary investors.

The “Restore The Republic” (RTR) Solana-based token was minted shortly after two of Donald’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., published cryptic comments about their recent fondness for the decentralized finance (DeFi) space and their intentions to make an announcement that could have a huge impact in the crypto sector.

On August 7, Eric commented that he had “fallen in love with Crypto / DeFi” while Donald Jr. said that the Trump organization was getting ready to “shake up the crypto world.”

The timing and perceived connection of RTR and the Trump family’s teasers immediately triggered widespread speculation that RTR may be the official Trump-backed token that many in the crypto community had been anticipating.

RTR Sees its Market Cap Surge to Over $150M In Just a Few Hours

The launch of RTR triggered a frenzy of buying activity, with the token’s value skyrocketing in a matter of hours. RTR’s price quickly climbed to $0.1490, resulting in a staggering increase of over 2,000% from its launch price.

At its height, RTR’s market capitalization reached an impressive $155 million, all within hours of its debut. The token saw intense trading activity across various decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Solana, including Meteora, Orca, Raydium, and Jupiter.

Several factors contributed to the rapid ascent of RTR. The recent supportive statements made by Donald Trump about the crypto sector and the cryptic tweets published by his sons created a fertile ground for speculation.

Meanwhile, Ryan Fournier, chair of Students for Trump, posted (and later deleted) a message suggesting that RTR was the official Trump token – a statement that further fueled the hype. If these speculators were right that it was connected to Trump, they could have made massive returns. Unfortunately for them, they jumped the gun and bought into a fake coin.

The crypto analytics firm LunarCrush reports that there are no less than 162 crypto assets associated with Donald Trump’s image, political ideals, and other elements connected to his public persona and campaign.

In the past few days, the research firm emphasized that 51 new tokens linked to Trump were minted. This is probably an understatement too as hundreds if not thousands of small meme coins are launched every single day. The Solana blockchain is typically the go-to crypto infrastructure to launch these meme coins amid the proliferation of plug-and-play protocols like pump.fun that make launching a coin infinitely cheaper and easier than the normal manual process.

Trump Family Rapidly Cuts Ties with RTR

The RTR token’s meteoric rise was short-lived as the Trump family quickly denied any connection to the asset. This resulted in an equally dramatic crash. Eric Trump took to social media to warn his millions of followers about “fake tokens” and explicitly stated that “the only official Trump project has not been announced.”

Following his brother’s lead, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “I love how much the crypto community is embracing Trump. It’s absolutely incredible, but beware of fake tokens claiming to be part of the Trump project.”

These denials triggered a massive sell-off, causing RTR’s value to plummet by 95% from its peak. As of the latest data, RTR’s market capitalization has fallen to approximately $9 million, representing a 90% decrease from its highest level.

RTR is Hardly the First Rug Pull in the Celebrity-Endorsed Meme Coin Space

The RTR debacle has several implications for the cryptocurrency market and highlights several ongoing issues that are plaguing the space. The incident portrays how quickly cryptocurrency markets can move based on rumors and speculation, especially when tied to high-profile individuals.

Just yesterday, just hours before Eric and Donald Jr. took to X to publicize their upcoming crypto project, another alleged meme coin tied to Trump experienced a huge drop. The token’s name is DJT and it was reportedly backed by Donald’s youngest son, Barron, and promoted in collaboration with the infamous American pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli.

No official link between Barron and DJT was confirmed at any point although Shkreli did claim that the two worked together and that DJT was the official Trump meme coin. We may never know if that was true as the Trumps would likely never associate themselves with a rug pull token.

Other meme coins and celebrity-endorsed projects have suffered similar faiths, even when they are explicitly backed by the public figures they are linked to. A recent report from Bubblemaps showed that most of these assets have lost nearly 90% of their value already. The list includes meme coins issued by Caitlyn Jenner, Doja Cat, 50 Cent, and Iggy Azalea.

Investors have lost millions in these so-called “rug pulls”. These are projects where a large percentage of the token’s total supply is distributed among insiders. Once the price of the asset increases during the initial hype, these insiders typically cash out and leave investors holding large bags of worthless cryptocurrencies.

The Trump Family is Still Officially Invested in the Crypto Space

While the RTR token has already been demystified, the Trump family continues to promote a project in the crypto space which details they have still not uncovered. Donald Trump Jr. mentioned that they are working on a DeFi platform that aims to address inequality in access to banking services. So if you see influencers pushing a random small meme coin, claiming that it is the new Trump project, take it with a massive grain of salt and do more research before making any rash decisions.

The family has indicated that their crypto project is still in its early stages and that it will take some time for them to develop it to the point that it can reach its full potential.

The RTR token saga offers several lessons for the crypto community. For the most part, investors should approach celebrity-endorsed tokens with a healthy dose of skepticism and caution, especially in the absence of official confirmations about the link between the asset and the public figure.

Moreover, the power of social media in driving crypto market trends is evident, highlighting the need for responsible communication from influential figures. Despite this setback, the incident demonstrates that there is still a strong interest in Trump-themed cryptocurrencies among a certain group of investors.