The
team
behind
TRUMP
(the
meme
coin,
not
the
former
U.S.
president)
have
a
similar
complaint
as
their
crypto
token’s
namesake:
They
say
the
game
is
rigged
against
them.
The
team,
who
have
no
official
ties
to
Donald
Trump,
told
CoinDesk
they’ve
had
a
hard
time
getting
the
original
Trump-themed
PoliFi
token
listed
on
mainstream
digital
asset
trading
platforms.
TRUMP,
whose
logo
features
the
GOP
candidate
with
laser
eyes,
primarily
trades
on
decentralized
exchanges
(DEXs)
but
is
available
on
lesser-known
centralized
exchanges
including
MEXC,
LBank,
BingX,
and
BitMart.
However,
when
the
team
applied
in
mid-May
to
list
the
token
on
Kraken,
one
of
the
oldest
and
largest
U.S.
exchanges,
they
never
heard
back,
Steven
Steele,
marketing
director
of
the
TRUMP
token,
told
CoinDesk
in
a
Telegram
message.
A
Kraken
spokesperson
had
no
comment.
“The
exchanges
that
have
refused
to
list
TRUMP
for
‘political
reasons’
are
exhibiting
embarrassing
levels
of
cowardice
that
is
also
incredibly
tone
deaf
to
the
current
memecoin
landscape
and
their
own
customers,”
Steele
said.
“To
shun
the
pioneer
of
PoliFi
because
it’s
a
Trump-themed
project
in
an
election
season
wherein
he
is
openly
running
as
America’s
first
major
Presidential
‘crypto
candidate‘
is
shockingly
out
of
touch
and
speaks
volumes
as
to
who
they
are
and
where
they’re
coming
from,”
he
continued.
PoliFi
refers
to
political
finance,
a
category
of
election-themed
memecoin
where
ownership
represents
partisanship
(though
again,
not
formal
affiliation),
and
a
token’s
market
movement
reflects
a
candidate’s
chances
of
winning.
Despite
Kraken’s
apparent
refusal
to
list
TRUMP,
a
jokey
counterpart,
TREMP,
recently
debuted
on
the
U.S.
exchange.
Aside
from
Kraken,
TREMP
also
trades
on
HTX
in
addition
to
many
of
the
lesser-known
exchanges
that
list
TRUMP.
Kraken
also
lists
BODEN,
the
Joe
Biden-themed
counterpart
to
TREMP.
‘Too
political’
Other
exchanges
told
the
TRUMP
team
that
the
token
was
“too
political”
to
list,
despite
initially
seemingly
being
okay
with
it
provided
certain
volume
targets
were
hit
prior
to
listing.
In
screenshots
seen
by
CoinDesk,
a
representative
from
ByBit’s
listing
team
initially
provided
volume
goals
as
a
prerequisite
for
listing
the
token
on
the
exchange.
However,
later,
that
rep
said
that
exchange
management
rejected
the
listing
because
of
the
potential
political
risk
it
could
bring
to
a
centralized
exchange.
A
ByBit
spokesperson
would
not
discuss
the
matter
on
the
record.
OKX
also
gave
the
TRUMP
team
a
similar
response.
In
screenshots
seen
by
CoinDesk,
a
member
of
its
listing
team
said
political
meme
coins
were
too
sensitive
of
a
topic
to
list.
An
OKX
spokesperson
would
not
discuss
listing
decisions
when
contacted
by
CoinDesk.
The
TRUMP
team
has
not
yet
applied
to
be
listed
on
HTX,
the
only
other
mainstream
exchange
aside
from
Kraken
that
lists
the
TREMP
token.
A
spokesperson
for
HTX
wouldn’t
rule
out
listing
TRUMP
when
asked
by
CoinDesk.
“We
consider
every
potential
project
and
token
to
list
on
our
platform,
subject
to
the
market
environment
and
trend,”
a
HTX
spokesperson
told
CoinDesk
in
a
Telegram
interview.
“And
to
be
fair
to
every
project,
there
is
also
a
strict
evaluation
process
by
our
listing
committee.”
Down
bad
All
PoliFi
tokens
are
deeply
in
the
red
after
the
launch
of
DJT,
another
Trump-themed
token
that
some
have
claimed
has
the
official
support
of
the
former
President’s
campaign
(though
no
definitive
proof
has
been
given).
DJT
rallied
nearly
200%
Monday
after
reports
it
had
the
backing
of
Trump,
though
it’s
down
30%
after
the
connection
between
DJT
and
the
campaign
continues
to
be
questioned.
Crypto
trader
GiganticRebirth,
once
a
leaderboard
champion
on
FTX,
broke
a
year-and-a-half
tweeting
hiatus
to
question
the
connection
between
the
token
and
the
campaign
by
offering
to
be
a
counterparty
in
a
bet
by
convicted
pharmaceutical
executive
Martin
Shkreli.
At
the
same
time,
TRUMP
is
down
over
38%,
according
to
CoinGecko
data
while
TREMP
is
in
the
red
with
a
45%
on-day
loss.
Bettors
on
Polymarket,
the
crypto-based
prediction
market
platform,
are
signaling
a
16%
chance
that
the
DJT
token
has
the
backing
of
Trump
himself
or
his
campaign.
