Which Exchanges Rushed to List Trump’s Coin and Who Won?

In a breakneck 48-hour span, eight of the world’s ten largest exchanges – Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Bybit, KuCoin, Huobi, Gate.io, and Kraken – listed $TRUMP, bypassing typical vetting timelines and sparking record trading volumes on Solana’s blockchain.

Listing Rush and Fallout

These listings came nearly four months faster than the industry norm of 129 days, driven by user demand and the lure of massive trading fees. Exchanges insisted they conducted full due diligence, yet insiders admit compliance teams scrambled to review contracts and token economics under intense market pressure.

Regulatory experts blasted the launches as a textbook pump-and-dump, citing the 80% concentration of the 1 billion-coin supply in the hands of Trump and his partners as a glaring conflict of interest and a clear red flag. The White House denied any conflicts of interest, saying “the president isn’t managing the assets” as they are held in a family trust, but ethics watchdogs argue that token backers effectively bought access to the presidency ahead of the January 20 inauguration.

Exchanges that lagged, such as Upbit, which listed $TRUMP nearly a month later, and Coinbase, which waited three days – reportedly did so to avoid compliance backlash, but they ceded early-market share to faster-moving rivals. Coinbase and others insisted no steps were skipped, but acknowledged the timeline was compressed due to market interest.

“Given the information that was shared publicly, we were confident that users could engage with the token positively and safely,” Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, told Reuters.

Winners, Losers, and Market Dynamics

In the $TRUMP rush, early movers booked windfall profits. Trading fees across ten major exchanges totaled more than $172 million, with the bulk earned during the first 48 hours. Market makers booked windfall profits by supplying liquidity, while arbitrage desks exploited price gaps across venues, netting millions before the token’s collapse. Even short sellers scored big: one trader reported pocketing $45 million by shorting at $15 and covering at $1.90.

Retail investors endured the sharpest pain. Approximately 700,000 wallets held $TRUMP at its peak, only to see combined unrealized losses of $4.3 billion as the token’s market cap slumped from $15 billion to $1.9 billion. Many latecomers entered after President Trump himself touted the coin on social media, unaware that 80% of its supply lay in the hands of insiders. With no circuit breakers or price bands in place, small holders watched their balances evaporate in minutes, underscoring the perils of hype-driven token launches.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued a consumer alert on memecoins a day before $TRUMP’s release, warning of risks tied to unlicensed platforms and tightly held token supplies. Coinbase, which is regulated in New York, blocked state residents from accessing $TRUMP while allowing users in other jurisdictions to trade it. The exchange labeled the token an “experimental” asset, warning of heightened volatility and investor risk.

The memecoin frenzy also strained network infrastructure and reshaped market behavior. Solana saw daily transactions spike by 220%, sending gas fees through the roof and prompting developers to throttle dApp activity to maintain performance. Derivatives platforms listed new $TRUMP futures and options contracts within days, while some DEXs experimented with on-chain limit orders to combat slippage during the volatile memecoin pump.

Retail traders, burned by the 88% crash, turned to decentralized insurance pools on platforms like Nexus Mutual to hedge against future token collapses. Going forward, exchanges plan to integrate real-time on-chain analytics and KYC-gated whitelists to catch risky tokens and avoid the next hype-driven meltdown.