Traders lose millions as memecoin downturn deepens

While some traders may have earned generational wealth from the recent memecoin frenzy driven by US President Donald Trump’s foray into memecoins, others have not been so fortunate as memecoin prices began dropping. 

On Jan. 24, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged how a trader who withdrew more than $1 million in Solana (SOL) tokens from exchanges to trade memecoins lost almost all of it. The trader invested in 13 different memecoins, losing about $900,000. 

Of the trader’s 13 investments, only one made a profit — of $231. The trader lost more than $400,000 on Alon (ALON) and over $200,000 on Vinecoin (VINE), the official memecoin launched by Rus Yusupov, co-founder of the defunct American short-form video hosting service.

Traders lose funds on Trump memecoins

On Jan. 18, President Donald Trump launched an official memecoin project. The token launch sparked a trading frenzy, sending the memecoin to a market capitalization of nearly $9 billion a few hours after the launch. First Lady Melania Trump also launched a self-titled meme token, which performed well after launch. 

While some made millions on TRUMP, others may not have been so lucky. At the time of writing, the TRUMP token was trading at around $34, about 53% down from its peak on Jan. 19. Meanwhile, the MELANIA token was at about $2, almost 80% down from its all-time high of $13 on Jan. 20. 

As the TRUMP token dropped, traders who bought high saw their funds plummet. On Jan. 21, Lookonchain flagged that a wallet linked to crypto influencer Ansem lost over $2.5 million on the TRUMP token. The wallet spent 9.3 million USD Coin (USDC) to purchase TRUMP tokens at $48. The trader sold the tokens at $35, ending with $6.8 million. 

Many others seem to have lost funds as well. An X user claimed that one trader lost $20 million on the TRUMP token, while another said a trader lost $400,000 on MELANIA.