In the politically charged world of meme coins and tokens, timing is everything. One crypto whale learned this lesson the hard way after making a series of poorly timed trades involving the $TRUMP token.
This memecoin saw a massive surge in value concurrent with the news of Donald Trump’s planned dinner appearances and the hype surrounding his return to the public eye. What could have been a simple payday involving the conversion of $TRUMP into some internal reserve currency ended with a painful loss on the books in the amount of something like 900,000 fiat dollars.
From Early Gains to Major Regrets
On April 23, the investor whom we are following — a big crypto whale with a notable presence in meme token trading — made his first exit from the $TRUMP position. In the early morning hours, he sold 630,000 $TRUMP tokens at $8.70 apiece, collecting around 5.483 million USDC. At the time, it looked like a solid move netting the trader a $483,000 profit.
Yet, only hours after that sale, the market narrative was turned on its head. Word began to circulate that Donald Trump had lined up a high-profile dinner plan, and traders and holders of the politically themed token couldn’t contain their excitement. Speculation and enthusiasm reached a fever pitch, and by the end of the day, the price of $TRUMP had soared to $16 — almost twice the price at which our whale had sold.
If the investor could have held on for just a bit longer, that initial liquidation could have instead produced an additional $3.8 million in profits. Yet the early sell-off made a bad trade seem well-timed, and it set the stage for a series of emotionally driven moves that drove the trader’s account even deeper into the red. Not only did our investor miss the post-announcement rally, but he also credibly established a pattern of sell-offs that would result in a costlier payoff. (He could have just held on; the payoff in the alternative scenario is the difference between $7.7 million and $3.8 million.)
Re-Entry Fueled by FOMO, Exit Marked by Panic
It is possible that the whale was influenced by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) after observing the continued surge in price for $TRUMP. On April 27, with $TRUMP remaining at an elevated level, the whale decided to buy back into the market — this time at a much steeper price of $15.39 per token, marking a sharp reversal in his earlier trading logic and placing him in a far more vulnerable position.
The second purchase occurred in a poorly timed manner. This was despite the fact that the narrative about the Trump dinner was continuing to generate a lot of excitement. By May 6, the price of the $TRUMP token was down to $11.29, a 13% drop in less than 48 hours. At that point, the downtick in the $TRUMP price was becoming impossible to ignore.
Three hours ago, in what seems to have been a move made out of risk aversion or capitulation, the whale sold his second batch of $TRUMP tokens at a lower price. The result was grim. Not only had he forfeited the initial $483,000 in profits from the first sale, but he also locked in a staggering $900,000 loss in principal from his second trade.
[在特朗普晚宴计划前卖出 $TRUMP 错失 $380 万收益的鲸鱼] 在 3 小时前卖出了他第二次买入的 $TRUMP，不仅把第一次的盈利亏掉了，还损失了 $90 万本金…
他在 $TRUMP 上的投资历程：
1⃣4/23 凌晨，他以 $8.7 的价格卖出 63 万枚 $TRUMP 换成 548.3 万 USDC，获利 $48.3… https://t.co/P9bXsrgbLc pic.twitter.com/BexFjpSwt3— 余烬 (@EmberCN) May 4, 2025
When all was said and done, what started as a beneficial gain morphed into a colossal finance blunder. The trader had the chance to take a total profit of $4.28 million. Instead, he ended with a profit of only $400,000.
A Lesson in Emotion and Market Timing
This story starkly reminds one how volatile and psychologically taxing it is to trade in meme coins. When one is in a market that is truly driven by hype, sentiment, and social media buzz, even seasoned investors can make bum moves. And the move that was made here just before the steep descent at the tail end of September 2021 is certainly one of them. To sell early, then to buy back in at the peak, then to sell one’s remaining holdings back at a slight loss once one realizes it’s not going back up—that’s bad trading, folks. And bad trading is often the result of allowing your emotions to take the wheel.
Although the identity of the whale is still not known, the blockchain allows all to see the transactions happening within it. For some, this will be a case study in the perils of FOMO, the transparency of using a public blockchain, and the heed one should give to not chasing short-term trends when it comes to an ever-volatile cryptocurrency market.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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