The Trump-themed memecoin DJT on Solana gained significant attention on Monday after tech publication Pirate Wires suggested it had received endorsement from Donald Trump himself. However, the lack of confirmation from the Trump campaign raised doubts about the authenticity of this claim.
According to a source familiar with decisions made within the Trump campaign, DL News reported that the campaign had no involvement in the DJT token project.
Early endorsement claims as “an official Trump coin” were initially put forward by former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli. Shkreli subsequently engaged in a high-stakes bet with crypto trader GCR, involving $100 million, but the bet was eventually called off due to disagreements over terms.
Currently, bettors on Polymarket assign a mere 3% probability that Donald Trump or someone from his family or team launched DJT. The bet has gathered nearly $2.5 million in liquidity and peaked at a 59% likelihood on June 17.
Shkreli later asserted that he collaborated with Barron Trump, Donald Trump’s youngest son, in creating DJT. Speaking on X Spaces hosted by Mario Nawfal, Shkreli claimed Barron Trump holds the majority of DJT tokens and is the sole beneficiary of the project. However, DL News could not independently verify these assertions.
Shkreli’s statements reportedly influenced GCR’s decision to withdraw from the $100 million bet, as detailed by crypto influencer Jordan Fish, known as Cobie.
As of now, DJT is trading at approximately $0.01 with a market capitalization of $103 million, based on CoinGecko data.
