Trump's "Monopoly" Game: NFT, President Coin, Chain Games, What's Next?

At the beginning of 2025, TRUMP coin emerged suddenly, exploding like thunder just days before Trump's inauguration speech, with the price soaring from an initial $0.18 to $75.35, but then quickly falling, with market capitalization shrinking significantly, ultimately dropping 90% from its peak.

On April 18th, the TRUMP token welcomed its first unlocking period; on April 23rd, official website news stated that users holding an average of Memecoins ranked in the top 220 will be invited to a dinner, and the coin price subsequently soared.

This seems to bring a glimmer of hope, but it feels more like enticing its holders to keep moving forward with apples that they can never eat.

Today, two insiders revealed that Trump's latest project will be a Trump-branded crypto game, designed similarly to Monopoly Go, scheduled to launch at the end of April.

Bait continues to be released, avoiding the turmoil caused by tariff policies, and the crypto world, which has just calmed down, is about to welcome Trump's new game.

From reality to crypto, this former businessman, now politician, is like a fish in water.

"Buying land, collecting rent, bankrupting opponents..." Similar scenarios play out repeatedly, while Trump, who has "always believed that Monopoly is a great game," has never stopped playing his game.

NFT, presidential coin, blockchain games... what's the next step?

For the crypto world, Trump is almost one of the most uncontrollable variables, and in 2025, this president will be very active.

On January 18, 2025, a few days before his inauguration, Trump announced the launch of a meme coin under the name Trump on his social platforms, sending the asset soaring to as high as $75.35. Within two days, it became the 19th most valuable cryptocurrency in the world.

The token's first round of issuance was 200 million coins. According to the official website, two entities under Trump collectively hold 80% of the tokens. The 40 million coins originally scheduled to be unlocked on April 18, valued at approximately 300 million USD, account for 20% of the circulating supply.

At the initial unlocking, the market generally anticipated a negative impact, but $TRUMP did not immediately crash after the unlocking on April 18. In particular, the news on April 23 that the official website of "Trump Coin" organized a closed-door meeting for its holders created quite a stir, with $Trump soaring by 50% within 24 hours, reaching a peak of $14.71.

Moreover, according to a report by Fortune magazine on April 15, Trump plans to launch a crypto game that allows players to build virtual assets and earn in-game currency through a "play to earn" mechanism. This game will become the latest addition to Trump and his family's growing list of cryptocurrency investments.

Despite the denial from Kevin Mercuri, spokesperson for Trump's old partner Zanker, that the project is similar to "Monopoly GO!", news of a new game set to launch at the end of April has still been confirmed.

This is not all of Trump IP's direct involvement in the crypto world.

As early as the period from 2022 to 2024, Trump released three NFT series, featuring his cartoon images (such as superheroes, presidential portraits, etc.). Buyers who held at least 47 Trump "Mugshot Edition" NFTs received an "exclusive reward" of a dinner at that time – "I have some cryptocurrency," said Jordan, who got the dinner slot in an interview, "but for me, it felt more like an opportunity to meet President Trump."

Despite the company's claims that the sale of NFTs is unrelated to Trump's campaign, these NFTs have been criticized alongside the presidential coin for "politicians exploiting the crypto market for profit," being labeled as "the most serious conflict of interest in modern history."

As a longtime fan of Monopoly, Trump was inspired to launch the board game "Trump: The Game" in 1989. Whether in reality or the crypto world, Trump has always been "buying land and building houses," with tricks that go far beyond IP.

Entering the market with the country, gaining an advantage over others.

Trump, who was once skeptical of cryptocurrencies and publicly denounced Bitcoin 4 years ago as a "scam" that affects the value of the dollar, has shown enthusiasm for Web3 during the 2024 presidential campaign, promising to make the United States a global hub for crypto innovation and criticizing the Biden administration's overly restrictive regulatory approach.

On January 23, three days after Trump returned to the White House to begin his second term, he issued Executive Order 14178, titled "Enhancing America's Leadership in Digital Financial Technology," laying the groundwork for a "National Digital Asset Reserve." On March 6, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a U.S. digital asset inventory, fulfilling the promise to make the United States the world's cryptocurrency capital.

He stated: "I have a very positive and open attitude towards cryptocurrency companies and everything related to this emerging industry. Our country must become a leader in this field."

On the same day, the White House held the first cryptocurrency summit, gathering well-known founders, CEOs, and investors from the cryptocurrency industry that faced repression during the Biden administration. However, the entire event did not release any substantive policy documents, and most speeches were filled with gratitude and praise for Trump’s "brilliant and mighty" leadership, as if it were a grand "Thanksgiving". The official live broadcast surprisingly interrupted 20 minutes after the start, leaving a lot to the imagination.

Not only has Trump explicitly expressed support for cryptocurrencies politically, but he and his family members have all entered this market.

In September 2024, the Trump family founded a cryptocurrency lending platform called "World Liberty Financial" (WLF). The project’s released GOLD PER shows that the Trump family receives 75% of the cryptocurrency income while not bearing any responsibility. In November 2024, Trump Media & Technology Group filed a trademark application for the crypto payment and trading service "TruthFi" and hinted at acquiring the crypto platform Bakkt. In February 2025, the Trump Group submitted a trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office under the name of DTTM, marking its potential expansion into the metaverse and NFT space. In March, President Trump’s two sons officially announced their investment in a new bitcoin mining company to expand the family's business interests in the cryptocurrency industry.

Measures including meme coins have brought billions of dollars in revenue to their family. Government ethics experts say these business activities have created the most obvious conflict of interest in the history of a U.S. president's term. It's no wonder that Timothy L. O'brien, who has long written biographies of Trump, once said, "Anyone who has walked into Trump's office and offered him a simple way to make money will catch his attention. He always takes a speculative approach to policy."

New York Times related reports

Trump stated when discussing the Biden administration's investigation into cryptocurrency companies: "They weaponized the government to target the entire industry."

In a memorandum dated April 7, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche ( Todd Blanche ) referenced President Donald Trump's commitment to "end the weaponization of regulation against the cryptocurrency industry" and disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), stating that "the Department of Justice will no longer pursue litigation or enforcement actions imposing a regulatory framework on digital assets."

Asset allocation, guiding according to circumstances, maximizing benefits, just like the planning of chain games play to earn, the Trump family is on this path and has been walking on it.

Monopoly Life

As the fourth child of New York real estate mogul Fred Trump, after obtaining a degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Trump was seen as his father's heir in business. Before joining the company, he entered the real estate industry with the help of a $1 million loan from his father, and subsequently, the family real estate business continued to expand, with other properties bearing the Trump brand—casinos, apartments, golf courses, and hotels—being completed one after another.

The 2004 reissued "Trump: The Game" has a slogan: It takes wisdom to make a million, and it takes Trump to make a billion. In this game, strategy and fun are not the most important; money is the core, both as a means and as the ultimate goal. Just like his life.

Trump is good at making money from his own reputation, and his media image has expanded along with his business empire.

From the founder of the Miss Universe, Miss America, and Miss Teenage America pageants to the creator and host of the NBC reality show The Apprentice..., while becoming a household name in American society for nearly half a century, Trump has also emblazoned his name on hotels, buildings, plazas, tournaments, and golf courses around the world, a large part of which is just "white-labeling."

In 2011, financial experts from Forbes estimated the value of the Trump brand at $200 million, but Trump disputed this valuation, claiming his brand was worth about $3 billion.

This is not surprising; Trump has always been an expert at bragging and negotiating.

In "The King of Real Estate: Donald Trump," biographer Gwenda Blair wrote: "In The Art of the Deal, Trump claims that business deals are what distinguish him from others... but his most original creation is the constant self-inflation." - The Art of the Deal promotes his business success, but it wasn't until twenty years later that he realized how many fictional elements were in that book. In 2016, the book's author Schwartz criticized his past self on Good Morning America for "putting lipstick on a pig."

From the marketplace to the political arena, the controversies surrounding Trump have never ceased. As a businessman, he is involved in over 4,000 legal lawsuits, and during his previous presidency, he left behind more than 3,700 allegations of conflicts of interest that were not fully divested. Yet he has never shown restraint, and indeed, he has achieved what he wanted, completing a remarkably flashy and scandal-ridden turnaround.

In January 2025, Trump, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a felony, officially became the first president to be elected as a felon, once again stirring the global chessboard.

Looking back at that game from 1989, which poorly sold under the Trump brand name: the rules are erratic, obsessed with wealth accumulation, and without a moral bottom line, with the slogan: "It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you win!"

Isn't this plot familiar?