Is TRUMP being soft-rugged? On-chain data points to a $94mln exit

ambcryptoОпубліковано о 2025-12-31Востаннє оновлено о 2025-12-31

Анотація

The team behind the "official" TRUMP memecoin has withdrawn approximately $94 million in USDC from its liquidity pools over three weeks, transferring the funds to Coinbase. Rather than a sudden hard rug pull, they used a calculated soft-unwinding method via the Meteora DLMM on Solana, strategically selling TRUMP tokens without causing an immediate price crash. This mirrors the same tactic used for the MELANIA token. TRUMP has collapsed over 90% from its peak, trading at $4.94 by December 31st, signaling a severe loss of market confidence and raising questions about the viability of Trump-branded crypto ventures.

Over the last three weeks, the team behind the “official” TRUMP memecoin, launched just days before Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, has quietly removed about $94 million in USDC from its liquidity pools.

On-chain data from analyst EmberCN showed that the team sent this money straight to Coinbase, indicating something far more serious than simple profit-taking.

Instead of performing a typical “hard rug pull,” where developers drain all liquidity at once and disappear, the TRUMP team used a slower, more calculated soft-unwinding method to withdraw funds without attracting attention.

TRUMP developers quietly drain

On-chain data further confirmed that the team relied on the Meteora DLMM (Dynamic Liquidity Market Maker) on Solana [SOL] to execute this strategy.

In this process, they added only TRUMP tokens, without pairing them with USDC, to specific price levels.

Now, when the market price reaches those levels, the Meteora system automatically swaps the TRUMP tokens for USDC.

This approach lets the team sell their tokens quietly without causing a dramatic crash on the chart, while allowing them to steadily collect USDC in the background as retail buyers continue trying to support the price.

A $94 million flight to centralized exchanges

Needless to say, the scale of this liquidation is staggering.

Even as the token has lost over 90% of its value since its January 2025 peak, the team has only accelerated its withdrawals.

On the 31st of December alone, a wallet controlled by the core team removed $33 million in USDC from the pools and sent the funds directly to Coinbase.

The “Melania” blueprint

The activity in Official Trump [TRUMP] follows a repeated playbook.

Investigators note that the MELANIA token, launched shortly after the TRUMP memecoin, used the exact same single-sided liquidity method on Meteora to liquidate positions.

With the token down sharply from its all-time high of around $74, the team’s steady removal of liquidity signals a final “winding down” phase for a project many now describe as “dead.”

The massive liquidity drain from the TRUMP memecoin arrives at a symbolic moment for the “Trump crypto ecosystem.”

TRUMP price action and more

As of 31st December, the token struggled to find a floor.

It was trading at $4.94, after a tiny 0.31% gain that does nothing to hide its 90% collapse from its post-inauguration peak.

This memecoin “sunset” sharply contrasted with the institutional ambitions of World Liberty Financial [WLFI], the project officially backed by the President.

Even WLFI has not escaped market volatility; it ends 2025 down 56% from its launch high.

All this has left everyone wondering whether a sitting president should maintain ties to a private crypto venture or not.

Final Thoughts

The identical strategy used in the MELANIA token suggests a coordinated playbook, implying that multiple Trump-branded tokens may have been designed as short-term cash engines.
A 90% price collapse for TRUMP, and its struggle to find a floor, signals a near-complete erosion of market confidence.

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Пов'язані питання

QWhat method did the TRUMP memecoin team use to withdraw funds, and how is it different from a hard rug pull?

AThe TRUMP team used a 'soft-unwinding' method, where they slowly and quietly drained liquidity by adding only TRUMP tokens to specific price levels on the Meteora DLMM. This allowed them to automatically swap tokens for USDC as the market price reached those levels without causing a dramatic price crash, unlike a hard rug pull where all liquidity is drained at once and the developers disappear.

QHow much USDC did the TRUMP team remove from its liquidity pools and send to Coinbase on December 31st alone?

AOn December 31st alone, a wallet controlled by the core team removed $33 million in USDC from the liquidity pools and sent the funds directly to Coinbase.

QWhich other Trump-branded token used the same single-sided liquidity method on Meteora to liquidate positions?

AThe MELANIA token, launched shortly after the TRUMP memecoin, used the exact same single-sided liquidity method on Meteora to liquidate positions.

QWhat was the trading price of the TRUMP token as of December 31st, and how much had it fallen from its peak?

AAs of December 31st, the TRUMP token was trading at $4.94, representing a collapse of over 90% from its post-inauguration peak.

QWhat does the identical strategy used in both the TRUMP and MELANIA tokens imply about their design?

AThe identical strategy suggests a coordinated playbook, implying that multiple Trump-branded tokens may have been designed from the outset as short-term cash engines rather than long-term projects.

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