From hype to bailout: Trump meme coin’s $200 million rescue plan

The Official Trump (TRUMP) token, once the hottest political meme asset of early 2025, has lost almost 90 percent of its value since January. Now its issuer, Fight Fight Fight LLC, run by Trump ally and entrepreneur Bill Zanker, is trying to raise at least $200 million. The company wants to form a so-called digital-asset treasury that would buy back tokens and support liquidity. Some reports suggest the goal could stretch to $1 billion, but the plan remains in its early stages and may never materialize.

From hype to collapse

The trump meme coin launched on January 17, 2025, just three days before Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th U.S. President. That same evening, Trump publicly promoted the token on social media, helping ignite a retail frenzy. Within days, its market capitalization briefly exceeded $300 million as campaign-season hype and “official” branding sent trading volumes soaring.

However, by late February, momentum faded. Profit-taking, falling volume, and skepticism over the project’s legitimacy triggered a rapid slide. As of this week, the trump meme coin trades about 90 percent below its all-time high. It erased nearly all of its early-year gains.

Who’s behind the project?

Behind the scenes, the issuer is Fight Fight Fight LLC, a Delaware-registered company led by Bill Zanker, best known for co-founding The Learning Annex and previous ventures with Trump. Zanker’s team markets the Official Trump token as part of a broader “Trump community,” hosting events such as the Dinner with Trump for large token holders.

Nevertheless, there is no verified public filing showing direct ownership by Donald Trump or his family. The blurred relationships between Fight Fight Fight LLC, CIC Digital LLC, and the Trump Organization have even prompted Senate inquiries into potential conflicts of interest.

The bailout plan

Zanker’s new proposal would create a digital-asset treasury, a corporate-style fund that accumulates TRUMP tokens to reduce supply and restore confidence. Supporters call it a “long-term stabilization strategy,” while critics describe it as a bailout disguised as a buyback. At this point, the plan still lacks details on governance, custody, or transparency. Even so, reporting indicates that the fundraising target ranges from $200 million to $1 billion, with proceeds intended for token accumulation and market operations.

Locked supply versus treasury holdings

The $TRUMP token has a total supply of 1 billion units, but only approximately 200 million are currently in circulation. The remaining around 800 million tokens (roughly 80 percent) are locked across wallets associated with Fight Fight Fight LLC and CIC Digital LLC.

Those locked tokens follow a three-year vesting schedule. Each allocation has an initial cliff period of three to twelve months. They are followed by partial unlocks of ten to twenty-five percent once each cliff expires. The remainder is released gradually through daily vesting over approximately two years. Therefore, the full release window stretches into 2027 or early 2028.

Locked tokens represent pre-allocated assets that insiders already own. They cannot yet be traded, but they do not require new funding. In contrast, a treasury would use fresh outside capital to buy TRUMP on the open market, collecting tokens that are already in circulation. Consequently, while the locked supply shows founder control, the proposed treasury aims to create the appearance of institutional structure and market confidence, even though both mechanisms ultimately consolidate ownership in the same hands.

Why hold a failing token?

At first glance, the idea of parking hundreds of millions of dollars in a collapsing meme coin seems irrational. Yet the motives mix brand defense, narrative control, and speculative opportunism. Holding a treasury full of TRUMP tokens could signal confidence, slow the decline, or position the issuer to profit from a potential rebound during a political season. More cynically, it could centralize supply control, giving Fight Fight Fight LLC influence over price perception and messaging. This approach resembles market choreography that often appears in meme-asset projects.

Does the Trump meme coin actually do anything?

In practical terms, no. The trump meme coin has no on-chain utility, no staking yield, and no governance rights. It is not used for payments or campaign donations, and there is no formal redemption or burn mechanism. Owning it merely offers exposure to a politically themed digital collectible whose value rests entirely on speculation. Furthermore, even the Dinner with Trump promotion was a marketing perk, not a recurring feature. For investors seeking fundamentals, the token offers none, only branding, hype, and volatility.

>>> Read more: Trump Media Crypto.com Deal Fuels $6.42B Treasury

ETF listing confusion

Separately, a Canary Capital “TRUMP Coin ETF” appeared on the DTCC’s NSCC list of eligible securities, which prompted online excitement. However, this is not an SEC approval. It simply indicates technical readiness for clearing should a product ever launch. Regulatory filings show no authorized Trump crypto ETF, and the listing itself did nothing to lift prices.

Outlook: Can a treasury save a meme?

Whether a $200 million fund can revive the trump meme coin remains uncertain. Without clear oversight, any buyback could simply concentrate ownership without rebuilding market trust. Moreover, the episode fits a familiar crypto pattern: hype, collapse, and attempted resurrection through financial engineering. If the “digital-asset treasury” goes forward, it will test whether even the most politically charged meme token can be financially reanimated, or whether some manias are simply too far gone to save.