Here’s a number worth sitting with: retail investors in the $TRUMP meme coin have lost somewhere between $4 billion and $4.5 billion since the token launched in January 2025. That’s not a rounding error. That’s roughly the economic output of a small island nation, evaporating mostly from the wallets of ordinary people who bought into the hype.

Meanwhile, Trump and his associated entities reportedly collected over $1.4 billion in royalties, licensing fees, and token sales during that same period. The math is uncomfortable.

A very short rise and a very long fall

$TRUMP launched in January 2025, and for a moment, it looked like something. The token hit a market cap of approximately $15 billion and a price near…