The memecoin sector is full of joke tokens offering little intrinsic value and lots of volatility, feeding criticism of the nascent industry as frivolous and risky.

The meme-coin frenzy surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s launch saw twists and turns over the weekend following the launch of a coin celebrating his wife Melania.

Within hours, TRUMP skyrocketed in value, climbing from pennies to over $50, with a market cap over $10 billion. The coin now ranks among the world’s top 20 digital assets, attracting both investors and critics. Trump’s business arm holds 80% of the tokens, set to release gradually during his presidency.

Days ahead of Trump's inauguration as President of the United States, scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20, Trump launched the $TRUMP memecoin on crypto platform Solana. The President-elect posted the news from his official X account, making it as official as can be.

"The reign of terror against crypto is over, and the beginning of innovation in America for crypto has just begun," Sacks said, speaking on Friday at the so-called crypto ball event, intended to drive support for Trump among the crypto community and demonstrate its value to the incoming administration.

President Trump's $TRUMP meme coin is being called a disappointment by token fans as crypto fever pushed bitcoin to a record high on Monday.

Major exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Robinhood, have listed TRUMP. Crypto exchanges, including Kraken and Bitmex, have listed MELANIA

Melania Trump’s new $MELANIA token briefly tanked $Trump coin’s value as Bitcoin hits $107K with Trump’s crypto stance fueling market buzz.

Meme coins, which often start as jokes with no real value, are volatile cryptocurrencies that can skyrocket in price if enough people are willing to buy them.