Me and Memes

Fart coin and others

Me and Memes, that is the question. I have been asked by a lot of readers lately my personal views on some of the meme coins in the crypto ecoshpere. Let me put is straight. I don’t do meme coins. I do do Las Vegas.

I always have fun when I am in Vegas. If I want to use my money in that kind of manner, like “investing” in a meme coin, I would rather go to Vegas where I could lay down my money, see some good shows (Cirque de Soleil, Garth Brooks), and eat at some amazing restaurants (Ocean Prime or TAO), all at the same time. The odds are similar only without all of the fun.

But, what about Fartcoin? It follows the same pattern we’ve seen with most crypto gains lately. Traders are riding the momentum that began when Donald Trump was elected. With Trump’s promise to be the “crypto president” and his administration’s clear pivot toward a more crypto-friendly stance, the market has been on fire. His staff appointments have only fueled the frenzy—most notably, Paul Atkins, a known crypto advocate, who is set to take over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the upcoming resignation of SEC chair Gary Gensler. This shift in leadership signals a much softer regulatory approach, and as a result, nearly every cryptocurrency has surged in value, even the joke coins like Fartcoin.

Memecoins, in particular, have been thriving in this environment. Fartcoin, Dogecoin, and countless other novelty tokens are riding the wave of optimism, with traders betting on the idea that the new administration will turn a blind eye to the speculative chaos. It’s not just about the coins themselves—it’s about the broader sentiment. Trump’s pro-crypto rhetoric and the perception that regulation will be loosened have created a gold rush mentality. Everyone wants in, and no one wants to miss the next big pump.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t sustainable. The same dynamics that drove $TRUMP’s rise—low float, high FDV, and speculative hype—are at play with Fartcoin and its peers. These coins are being pumped to absurd valuations, but the underlying fundamentals are nonexistent. Fartcoin doesn’t do anything. It’s a joke, a meme, a speculative plaything. And while that’s fine for short-term traders looking to make a quick buck, it’s a disaster waiting to happen for anyone who gets caught holding the bag.

So, right before being inaugurated, the now-President of the United States pulled off a crypto scam release. Time really does move fast. Sam Bankman-Fried probably thought he’d have to wait a decade or so to see something like this happen, but here we are.

There’s a lot to unpack here, but let’s start with the financial math, because that’s where the real story lies. The key thing to understand about $TRUMP—the thing most people missed, and that headline writers didn’t bother to explain is a concept called, “float.” Float refers to the percentage of a token, or any asset, that’s actually circulating on the public market. For $TRUMP, the float was just 20% of the total supply. And if you define float as non-insider holdings, it’s probably even less than 20%, based on some sleuthing into disguised wallets.

Here’s where the magic of crypto scams meme coins comes into play: when someone buys a piece of that 20% float, the price is determined by demand for the circulating supply, not the total supply. But that price is then used to calculate the value of the entire supply—including the 80% that isn’t circulating—using a metric called “Fully Diluted Valuation” (FDV).

Let me break it down. Imagine 20 people want to buy $TRUMP. There are 100 total tokens, but only 20 $TRUMP. There are 100 total tokens, but only 20% (20 tokens) are available to the public. Those 20 people each buy one token for $TRUMP. According to FDV, the value of all 100 tokens is now $100. Just like that, $80 of value was created out of thin air! (This is similar to how FTX used a low-float, high-FDV token called FTT as loan collateral during their, now fully litigated, scam.)

Now, let’s flip the scenario. Imagine those same 20 people spend the same $20, but this time they’re buying all 100 $TRUMP tokens. Each token costs 20 cents. The FDV is now just \20. That’s a much more accurate valuation, but it’s also far less exciting for the scammers.

This is the first thing to keep in mind when you see headlines claiming $TRUMP reached a “value” of \35 billion. That didn’t actually happen. According to CoinGecko’s more realistic metric, “Market Cap,” which only considers circulating tokens, TRUMP peaked at about \14 billion and is now worth closer to $8 billion.

Sure, Trump and his team made a fortune off the initial sale, but that market cap is going to keep shrinking. DJT isn’t walking away with $30 billion, or $10 billion, or even $5 billion, because he can’t sell most of the 80% of tokens still sitting on the sidelines.

This brings us to the second key concept: liquidity. $TRUMP is listed on some centralized exchanges, which operate a bit differently, but at its core, it’s a Solana-based “shitcoin”. That means it can only be sold into however much liquidity is available in on-chain swap pools. I’m not going to look up the exact numbers for you, but trust me—there isn’t \5 billion of exit liquidity on Solana waiting for DJT to cash out. In decentralized exchange (DEX) pools, prices are directly tied to liquidity. As the USDC/TRUMP pair drains, the price of $TRUMP will drop. And if an insider tries to sell a huge chunk, the price will plummet even faster.

We can only assume that what’s already happening is this: the Trump team has taken the proceeds from the initial sale and used them to buy millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin, XRP, Ether, XLM, HBAR, and other legitimate assets. First off, many people have to say—thanks, MAGAoins, for pumping our bags. That one we didn’t see coming. But what team DJT are doing is classic: dumping shitcoins ($TRUMP) and using the profits to buy real assets (BTC, ETH, XRP). Although, to be fair, there is a sizeable “float” with XRP.

If you’ve spent the last decade convinced that all crypto is a scam and refused to learn about it, I’m sorry to say you’ve lost that bet. It’s too late to catch up now, but here’s the short version: $TRUMP does nothing.

BTC, XRP, and XLM actually do something.

Selling one to buy the other is what’s known as a “rugpull” or an “exit scam.” And guess what? They’re legal now.

Oh, look, a squirrel!!

The broader crypto market is also facing a dangerous reality. While Trump’s pro-crypto stance has created a short-term boom, it’s also attracting a lot of bad actors. Scams, rugpulls, and pump-and-dump schemes are becoming more common, and the lack of regulatory oversight is only making it easier for these schemes to thrive. The rise of Fartcoin is a perfect example of this. It’s not about innovation or utility—it’s about hype, speculation, and the hope that someone else will pay more for it tomorrow.

At some point, the music will stop. The question is, who will be left standing when it does? For now, traders are enjoying the ride, and the Trump administration seems content to let the market run wild. But history has shown us that bubbles always burst, and when they do, the fallout can be devastating. Whether it’s Fartcoin, $TRUMP, $PEPE, or any other overhyped token, the story is the same: easy money never lasts.

So, while the rise of Fartcoin and $TRUMP might seem like a fun, ridiculous chapter in the crypto saga, it’s also a cautionary tale. There is a lot of the crypto market that is being driven by speculation, not substance, and the consequences of that will eventually catch up with everyone involved. For now, though, the traders are laughing all the way to the bank—or at least, they think they are.

To see inside my mind and how I do my research, I welcome you to read my critically acclaimed book “Quantum of Justice - The Fraud of Foreclosure and the Illegal Securitization of Notes by Wall Street”.