Trump-linked brand touts GOLD before token loses about 98%

Real Trump Coins promoted the Solana-based Trump Digital GOLD token on X before deleting related posts on Saturday. Real Trump Coins is a brand that US President Donald Trump publicly promoted in 2024. The Real Trump Coins website continued promoting GOLD and advertised a 4% trading fee. The website pledged to use 99% of trading fees to buy back GOLD. Lookonchain said the developer held 600 million GOLD. Lookonchain said 15 newly created wallets spent $18,657 to acquire 224.5 million GOLD. Lookonchain said the wallets linked to the team sold all 224.5 million GOLD for 3,178 SOL worth about $330,000. Lookonchain said the team controlled 82.45% of the total supply and advised users to be cautious. DEX Screener showed GOLD's market capitalization falling from about $50 million to $500,000 at the time of publication. Lookonchain estimated that the wallets made a $312,000 profit, or roughly 17 times their initial investment. Crypto observers questioned GOLD's legitimacy. Some suggested that the Real Trump Coins website and the X account followed by Trump's official account may have been compromised. Several crypto outlets described GOLD as an apparent scam or rug pull. Unverified reports linked the suspected compromise to Iranian hackers. The Real Trump Coins website says its products are not manufactured, distributed, or sold by the Trump Organization. Trump publicly promoted RealTrumpCoins.com in September 2024 when announcing his silver medallions. The GOLD episode added scrutiny of Trump-linked crypto ventures. Trump urged lawmakers on Aug. 19 to pass a fair version of the CLARITY Act. The proposed legislation would establish a regulatory framework for crypto assets and clarify whether tokens fall under securities or commodities rules. The White House denied any impropriety involving Trump-linked crypto ventures.