This week, a up-to-date PolitFi token made headlines amid a boom in the cryptocurrency market. Restore The Republic (RTR) caught the attention of investors after rumors of its ties to the Trump family surfaced. The Trump-themed token saw a huge surge after its launch, but its price quickly fell after the former US president’s camp denied any connection to it.
Trump-themed token turns out to be counterfeit
On Thursday evening, the PolitiFi token was surrounded by controversy after it dropped more than 95% just hours after launch. Restore The Republic was described as a token that “ensures our nation remains a beacon of freedom, justice, and opportunity.”
Memecoin created buzz among investors as it was suspected to be the long-awaited announcement of the Trump family’s crypto project. As a result, the price of RTR increased by over 14,500% after its launch, from $0.001 to as high as $0.15.
The token also reached a market capitalization of $155 million three hours after launch. However, the rapid growth was quickly met with a massive decline after Eric Trump stated that the project was not affiliated with the former US president.
In the post, X Eric warned cryptocurrency investors about counterfeit tokens, stating that “Trump’s only official project has NOT been announced.” he emphasized that the message would first arrive directly from their camp.
Immediately after, RTR’s market capitalization plummeted, from $125 million to $13 million. The token went from around $0.12 to $0.007 in less than an hour, leaving many investors with huge losses.
On-chain data analytics company Lookonchain revealed that a crypto whale lost over $800,000 after buying a token due to FOMO. According to the report, the investor spent 5,800 SOL, which is worth $916,400, to buy 7.2 million RTR at the highest price.
Due to the price crash, the whale sold RTR tokens for just 118 SOL, which is equivalent to about $18,000, resulting in a loss of $898,500 within four hours.
Déjà Vu Cryptocurrency Scam
Online reports have revealed that insiders made over $4 million from memecoin. Newly created wallets bought millions of RTR when trading began. Insiders sold the token right after the Trump camp denied any ties to memecoin.
Following the price crash, the cryptocurrency community discussed the suspicious launch and promotion of the token. Students for Trump co-founder and president Ryan Fournier suggested in a now-deleted post that RTR was Trump’s official token.
Moreover, several KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) promoted RTR to their followers, claiming that it was a long-awaited Trump project. After the fall, some of these influencers claim that they lost gigantic sums of money.
One of the KOLs also claims that to have “legal documentation” that proves Donald Trump Jr.’s involvement in the launch. The cryptocurrency community quickly compared the incident to the recent “official” token tied to the Republican presidential candidate.
DJT made headlines nearly two months ago after rumors surfaced that it was launched by 18-year-old Barron Trump. At the time, other Trump-themed tokens fell by more than 30%, including MAGA (TRUMP). However, it was later revealed that the token was created and run by “farmabro” Martin Shkreli.
After the RTR debate, Donald Trump Jr. spoke about the cryptocurrencies inspired by his father. He stated that there is “nothing to talk about” regarding these tokens. He also acknowledged the problem with people assuming that all Trump-themed tokens are related to the family.
Businessman explained that they love and respect memecoin culture, but they are not the cryptocurrency project they claim to be.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
