Presidential cryptocurrencies are all the rage right now, but one trader managed to lose close to $1,000,000 by investing in one that turned out to be a fake, looking to cash in on the massive hype in the industry.
Cryptocurrencies have been on a high since Donald Trump emerged victorious from the US election in early November last year. While Bitcoin has certainly been the standout, having soared past the $100,000 mark for the first time in its history, there have been many other success stories with what would otherwise be classified as ‘meme coins’.
Options like Dogecoin – which was spurred on by the creation of Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, shortened to ‘DOGE’ – have proven to be incredibly successful for savvy buyers, and the market has seen a number of other coins have short-lived successes and controversial failures.
One trader has been duped after investing in a ‘fake’ crypto coin modelled after Barron Trump (ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr. via Getty Images)
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the lot, however, is the arrival of $TRUMP – a crypto coin directly backed and created by the President of the United States.
This was significantly invested in by Trump himself, and has seen over 500 people become millionaires in just 24 hours due to the coins success, even if it dropped after Trump’s own wife Melania also released a meme coin branded after herself.
While these successes are very much legitimate in the unregulated crypto market, this does also leave space for imitators looking to make a quick buck at the misfortune of people too caught up in the chaos to realize they’re being scammed.
As reported by the Crypto Times, $BARRON – a coin modelled after Trump’s youngest son, who was seen looking bemused at the inauguration – has managed to successfully dupe many into thinking that it’s associated with the President’s family, leaving one trader with a hefty $1,000,000 loss in just two hours.
If you’re in any way familiar with cryptocurrencies then you’ll be able to recognize this as a classic pump-and-dump scheme where the creator of the coin mass sells their stock once the price reaches a certain point, making it drop significantly in almost an instant.
While this remains an incredibly profitable, unethical, and arguably illegal method, it unfortunately happens quite a lot due to the unregulated nature of the market and can leave otherwise unsuspecting traders out of pocket.
Some on social media have offered their condolences to the unlucky trader, with one remarking: “And I feel bad for losing 1k or more sometimes, imagine $1M [skull emoji].”
Another adds that “FOMO is one helluva drug,” and it’s hard to ignore how easy it is for some traders to feel like they have to invest in order to catch the next big wave – It just doesn’t help that the person leading that charge is the President too.
A 12 year old boy became a millionaire after he invested in Bitcoin.
Those lucky investors who got in on the Bitcoin trend early have seen themselves scoop a fortune as it reached a sky-high rate.
That was certainly the case for one young man who saw himself become a millionaire as a result.
Bitcoin has seen a rise since Trump’s win (SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty)
With Donald Trump’s recent election win, the cryptocurrency’s value has been expected to rise and Bitcoin hit a record high earlier this month.
On November 6, it reached over $75,000, with its previous record of just under $74,000 being reported in March of this year.
Trump’s successful bid for the White House has turned out to be good news for people with investments in Bitcoin, particularly Erik Finman.
At the tender age of 12, Erik invested $1,245 into Bitcoin which he had been given from his grandmother.
By the time Erik reached 18, his initial investment had increased to a staggering $2.07 million. Now, following Trump’s victory, that initial 103BTC would be worth almost three times as much, at a huge $7,543,694.
Reflecting on his decision that paid off massively, Erik said ‘people didn’t really get what I was trying to do’.
The pre-teen made millions on his investment (Dan Kitwood/ Staff/Getty Images)
He told The Business of Business: “I really didn’t like high school. People didn’t really get what I was trying to do, get what I was searching for or what I was dreaming of.
“I had one teacher tell me, yeah, drop out, work at McDonald’s since I’ll never amount to anything more in life.
“I dropped out of high school and made a bet with my parents: if I make a million dollars by the time I’m 18, I don’t have to go back to school or go to college.”
After making his first million, Erik, who is a Trump supporter, didn’t stop there and built the amount of Bitcoins he had to 341 with an estimated worth of more than $4.8 million by mid 2020.
Following Trump’s victory, 341 BTC is now worth an eye-watering amount, at just under $25 million.
Although Erik, who is now 25, hasn’t been too happy about his claim to fame.
Instead, he has insisted that he is ‘desperate to get out of crypto’ and is ‘sick of being the Bitcoin person’.
In a career switch up, he’s recently been putting his finances into aircraft which he said has made ‘good money’.
Elon Musk has joked that he could face prison time if Trump loses the presidential election in a new interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Tesla boss spoke to the former Fox News host for an interview that aired on Musk’s own social media platform X – formerly Twitter.
The conversation started off with Carlson talking to Musk about what would happen if Trump loses to Democrat candidate Kamala Harris.
Elon Musk attended Trump’s rally over the weekend (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Carlson said: “If Trump loses, you’re f***ed dude.”
Musk laughed and replied: “If he loses, I’m f***ed. How long do you think my prison sentence is going to be? Will I see my children? I don’t know.”
Musk confirmed that he plans to continue with his support of Trump if he loses the election in November, adding that he thinks Harris is a ‘puppet’.
He said: “Kamala is gonna say whatever the teleprompter is gonna say.”
The billionaire then referred a tweet he’d made last month where he had claimed ‘no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala’.
Speaking to Carlson, he appeared to double down, saying: “I made a joke that no one’s even trying to kill Kamala because it’s pointless. What do you achieve? Nothing. They’ll just put in another puppet.”
“It’s deeply true,” Carlson replied.
He also talked to Carlson about his fears that religion is somehow being replaced by the ‘woke mind virus’.
Viewers of the interview took to X to react, with one user writing: “Joking about assassinating our elected leaders is not just tasteless—it’s dangerous. In today’s divided climate, we need responsible voices, not reckless rhetoric that normalizes violence. It’s un-American for Elon Musk & Tucker Carlson to make light of such serious threats. Our leaders—and all Americans—deserve better.”
And another replied with: “Trump drags people down to his level.”
On Saturday, Musk made an appearance at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
It took place at the same spot of the former president’s assassination attempt in July.
The tech mogul jumped up and down with his fists in the air as he joined Trump on stage.
Musk addressed the crowd, saying: “America is the home of the brave and the true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire.
“We had one president who couldn’t climb a flight of stairs and another who was fist-pumping after getting shot! Fight, fight, fight!”
He added: “I’m being repetitive for a reason. Honestly you want to be a pest. Fight, fight, fight! Vote, vote, vote!”
Trump praised Musk for donating Starlink systems to victims impacted by Hurricane Helene before adding: “I didn’t know what the hell Starlink was.”
