During the frenzy over political tokens and the heated competition between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, a crypto token called Restore the Republic (RTR) surfaced. Fortune reports that this token capitalized on Trump-related rumors, tricking investors and resulting in significant financial losses.
$ 155 Million loss: The RTR token story
According to the report, the trouble started on Thursday when the RTR token suddenly appeared on the Solana blockchain. Rumors quickly spread that this new cryptocurrency might be linked to former President Donald Trump or his family.
Fortune reported that the buzz was fueled by a recent social media post from Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s son, who hinted at a “big announcement” related to crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Rumors spread quickly with the Trump name at the center. Ryan Fournier, leader of Students for Trump, fueled the frenzy by declaring “Restore the Republic” as the official Trump coin.
Within six hours, more than $ 155 million loss into the token, causing its value to soar by over 120%. But the excitement was short-lived.
An hour after hitting a peak of $0.022, the token’s value crashed by over 80%. The sudden drop came after a tweet from Eric Trump, warning about “fake tokens” and clarifying that the Trump family’s official crypto project hadn’t been revealed yet.
Sources suggest that the Trump family’s upcoming crypto project could involve investments in Real World Assets (RWA) and might be called “World Liberty,” using blockchain technology. However, these details remain speculative, as the Trumps have yet to make an official announcement.
Trump-themed memecoins: RTR scandal echoes past trends
Following the RTR token scandal, Donald Trump Jr. quickly distanced his family, urging people not to associate any crypto projects with the Trump name “unless it comes straight from us.”
He acknowledged the popularity of “meme coins and that culture” but emphasized the need to keep legitimate endeavors separate from these scams.
Kanpai Labs, the creators of the RTR token, have been accused of pulling a “hard rug pull”—a scam where developers vanish with investors’ money after abruptly abandoning the project.
Interestingly, Kanpai’s founder, “Bags,” initially claimed the Trump family was involved and had chosen the launch date but later deleted the post and denied any connection.
The RTR token incident isn’t the first of its kind in Trump-themed cryptocurrencies. Similar meme coins like Super Trump (STRUMP) and MAGA (TRUMP) have also experienced big price jumps during times of political excitement about the former president.
