Trump family threatens legal action against cryptocurrency TrumpCoin

Have you heard of the cryptocurrency TrumpCoin?

No?

Apparently, neither had Donald Trump and his family…that is, until yesterday.

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"Fraud Alert: It has come to our attention that someone is promoting a crypto currency called 'TrumpCoin' (Symbol 'TRUMP')," tweeted the former president's son Eric Trump. "This has NOTHING to do with our family, we do not authorize the use and we are in no way affiliated with this group."

"Legal action will be taken," he said.

TrumpCoin is an alternative cryptocurrency, which is also commonly referred to as an altcoin or memecoin. These types of cryptocurrencies are often connected to a theme — in this case, Donald Trump — and have no real utility. 

Yet, people invest in memecoins believing that this memecoin will be the one to take off and make them rich. They're sort of like those physical "collectable" gold bullion Trump Coins you see sold in TV infomercials. (Note: TrumpCoin is not affiliated with those bullion coins, either.)

It appears to have taken Eric Trump and the rest of the family quite a while to discover TrumpCoin. According to the cryptocurrency's website, TrumpCoin launched in February 2016 during the campaign season, well before Donald Trump was elected in November of that year.

CoinMarketCap, a crypto listing source, has trading data for TrumpCoin going back to March 2016. According to this data, there are around 6.6 million coins currently circulating with a market cap of $1.8 million. 

In an immediate response to Eric Trump's tweet, the official Twitter account for the unauthorized TrumpCoin retweeted another user pointing out that the memecoin's website does point out that it's completely unaffiliated with Trump, his family, and organizations.

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This morning, the TrumpCoin Twitter account released a statement saying it was "currently in direct communication" with Eric Trump.

TrumpCoin isn't the first Trump-inspired cryptocurrency to make headlines.

Last month, LGBCoin was thrust into the spotlight after NASCAR turned down a sponsorship deal it had offered driver Brandon Brown. LGBCoin is a cryptocurrency based on Trump supporters' new favorite catchphrase "Let's Go Brandon," a euphemism for "Fuck Joe Biden."

It's unclear what the future holds for TrumpCoin as it relates to Eric Trump's legal threat. But if there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, if a deal can be made that's prosperous for Trump, perhaps TrumpCoin will live on…that is, until its holders dump it.