Stop the steal? Trump family threatens legal action against TrumpCoin

A low cap cryptocurrency named TrumpCoin (TRUMP) has finally drawn the ire of the Trump dynasty six years after it entered the market.

On Jan. 25, Donald Trump’s second son Eric threatened legal action against the TRUMP cryptocurrency for allegedly using his family’s name fraudulently.

Fraud Alert: It has come to our attention that someone is promoting a crypto currency called “TrumpCoin” (Symbol  “TRUMP.”) This has NOTHING to do with our family, we do not authorize the use and we are in no way affiliated with this group. Legal action will be taken.

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) January 24, 2022

TRUMP is a cryptocurrency that launched in Q1 2016 as the campaign season to elect the 45th President of the United States began. It claims to be “A Cryptocurrency created by Patriots for Patriots around the World.”

The TrumpCoin team apparently anticipated litigation at some point from the Trump family. About 24 hours after Eric’s threat, the TrumpCoin Twitter account fired back by highlighting a disclaimer on its website acknowledging that TrumpCoin is in no way affiliated with the Trump family or any of its related properties.

@EricTrump, this is on our website https://t.co/ilziwkSinB. https://t.co/mhWEnQhqYS pic.twitter.com/ISO394MkHN

— Trumpcoin – #1 Patriot Cryptocurrency (@TrumpCoinWW) January 24, 2022

TRUMP is currently trading at $0.28 with a 24-hour trading volume of $13,313 according to CoinGecko.

The Trump family is no stranger to the crypto industry. Melania Trump recently auctioned off a hat she wore while she was the First Lady. Payment was made in Solana (SOL). She also congratulated Bitcoin (BTC) on its 13th birthday at the start of this year.

Donald Trump, however, does not hold cryptocurrency in as high regard as his wife. Last October, he said that cryptocurrency is a threat to US Dollar hegemony in the world. He also said that he hopes digital currencies like China’s Digital Yuan do not create insurmountable competition for the dollar.

TRUMP joins a short but growing list of crypto pro that have come under fire over naming and branding rights. 

Related: Kanye West wants royalties from Paparazzi photos, with the help of NFTs

The estate of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkein took aim at the crypto named JRR Token for using the author’s name. On Nov. 23 of last year, the crypto was forced to shut down and delete any content that infringed on the estate’s copyrighted intellectual property.

Popular fast food restaurant Jack in the Box also sued FTX over copyright infringement. The chain alleged FTX’s “Moon Man” mascot copied its “Jack” mascot. The case was settled out of court on Jan. 21.

Ripple Labs was sued in Australian court last August for copying the name of a preexisting nationwide payments service named PayID.