Donald and Melania Trump Meme Coins Drop in Value

By Xavier MartinezPresident Trump and first lady Melania Trump's new cryptocurrencies have dropped in value after prices surged on Inauguration Day. Named $TRUMP and $MELANIA, the projects are meme coins, a type of crypto whose value is based largely on the popularity of internet memes. The tokens are available on the Solana blockchain.The president's token, which was unveiled Friday night, quickly soared in value and retained a market value of about $7.6 billion as of Tuesday morning, according to CoinMarketCap. $MELANIA was down to a market value of $800 million from nearly $1.8 billion on Inauguration Day. Trump's post announcing his coin, which went live at 9 p.m. ET Friday, caught the crypto industry off guard. Even as the coin's value soared, some worried about its heavy insider ownership and potential for conflict of interest.This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).