Prospects of winning a VIP dinner by TRUMP meme coin holders, and potentially meeting the US President Donald Trump, ignited a surge in TRUMP on-chain transfers to the tune of $2.5 billion, according to Kaiko, a blockchain research firm.
This follows an announcement made on April 23, which detailed the plans for an exclusive dinner for the top 220 holders of the meme coin.
Top 25 TRUMP holders promised more than just dinner
According to the Kaiko report, part of the plans included a meet-and-greet session with the President for the top 25 holders.
“On Wednesday, April 23, the team behind the official TRUMP meme coin announced plans for an exclusive dinner for the top 220 holders, with the top 25 receiving a meet-and-greet with the sitting president,” noted Kaiko.
In their report, the research firm added that this announcement triggered a 200% surge in on-chain activity for TRUMP, amounting to $2.4 billion worth of on-chain transfers, as nearly 10,000 wallets transferred the token.
According to Kaiko, TRUMP jumped 60% on the announcement day from $9 to $14.50, adding that it marked the busiest day of the month for the token as well as “its highest trading volume on centralized exchanges since mid-February.”
Following the dinner announcement, TRUMP overshadowed all other meme coins, including DOGE, and accounted for almost 50% of all meme coin trading volume on centralized exchanges last Wednesday.
Kaiko also noted that there was a spike in the share of smaller wallets that transferred smaller amounts of TRUMP tokens on the Solana blockchain.
“Typically, around 46% of active wallets transfer less than $10k worth of TRUMP, but this jumped to 75% following the announcement. Most of this surge came from very small transfers (under $1k), which alone made up 47.2% of active wallets.”
Kaiko.
The research firm has also pointed out that while Trump is challenging the narrative that meme coins are not valuable, the initiative has not been without controversy.
Critics see controversy with the initiative
Critics, including Trump’s political rivals as well as ethics advocates, have closely examined the move by the President and expressed concerns that he is rewarding those who buy his meme coin. Senator Jon Ossoff has called for President Trump’s impeachment over the dinner event. Ossoff condemned the plan as unethical and dangerous, saying it blurs the line between politics, personal gain, and public trust.
Adding another perspective to the story, some experts noted some suspicious on-chain movements. The next day, after the announcement, a user identified as “Sun” seemed to be registering for the upcoming event, according to Arkham Intelligence. The movements seemed to raise suspicion that the addresses could be directed to Justin Sun, who is the Tron founder and has been a strong supporter of Trump.
In November, Sun announced that Tron had invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked DeFi project. Thereafter, World Liberty Financial named Sun as its advisor.
Citing Chainalysis, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the meme coin had “generated hundreds of millions worth of cryptocurrency profits for entities affiliated with Trump.”
Although volumes have shrunk in the wake of the announcement, Kaiko is upbeat about another wave of intense market action around the corner.
“Volumes have since tapered off as the euphoria waned, similar to onchain activity. However, based on the website’s rules for the competition, we can expect to see more activity in the coming weeks.”
Kaiko.
“The rules stipulate that the top 220 average TRUMP holders between April 23 and May 12 will be eligible for the dinner. Increased activity is likely as the deadline approaches and holders move funds back on-chain to qualify for the event,” added the research firm.
