Key Takeaways
- A gold-colored statue depicting Donald Trump holding a bitcoin was erected in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
- The team behind the statue also created a memecoin on Pump.fun to mark the event.
- Attention on Trump’s pro-Bitcoin agenda comes as the Federal Reserve announced its first rate cut since December 2024.
If the art of making a viral memecoin lies in perfect timing and headline-grabbing stunts, the team behind a 12-foot statue of President Donald Trump holding a Bitcoin that appeared in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 17, just nailed it.
The gold-colored installation was unveiled to coincide with the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate announcement: a 25-point cut that may boost the crypto market.
Trump Bitcoin Statue Erected in DC
In a livestreamed event, the Trump statue was placed opposite Union Square on the National Mall that leads up to Capitol Hill, not far from the White House.
The project’s website states that it depicts the president’s outstretched hand holding a golden ₿-stamped coin, “a tribute to Trump’s visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing the future of finance through Bitcoin. ”
DJTDST Memecoin Pumps
While nominally a tribute, the gold Trump statue also serves a more mercantile function for its creators.
A memecoin associated with the effigy, DJTDST, was launched on Pump.Fun on Monday.
After the statue was erected in the morning, trading volume for the Solana token started to climb. Significant buying activity kicked off around 17:00 EST, shortly after the statue news went viral.
While the memecoin’s value quickly deflated in the ensuing sell-off, many followers of the project are holding out for a bigger reward.
If Trump himself comments on the statue, which was on-site until late-afternoon Wednesday, DJTDST is expected to surge even higher, given the global megaphone of a presidential mention.
One follower of the project accused the team of misleading memecoin traders by switching the time they advised to buy at the last minute.
Certainly, the swift crash in DJTDST’s market cap late Wednesday afternoon has all the hallmarks of a coordinated pump-and-dump.
Nevertheless, token-holders sticking it out in hopes of a second wind continue to rally around the degen refrain—trust the meme.
Interest Rates and Bitcoin Policy
Just as Washington journalists started to arrive on the scene of the Donald Trump Bitcoin statue, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-setting committee announced a 0.25% cut to its benchmark federal funds rate, lowering the target range to 4.00%–4.25%.
Eleven out of the twelve voting members backed the 25 basis point reduction, which was the first since December 2024. The single dissent was Stephen I. Miran, who preferred a larger, 0.50% cut.
A muted reaction in the stock market suggests most traders had already priced in the Fed’s decision to lower interest rates.
Meanwhile, crypto markets behaved as expected, with liquidity rising in response to lower interest rates, which make assets like Bitcoin more attractive to investors seeking higher returns.
Like other financial markets however, traders appear to have already factored in the move, which failed to catalyze a rally.
The decision to raise the Donald Trump statue on the same day the Fed was expected to lower rates points to the convergence of the president’s defining economic policies.
Trump’s plan to establish a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve has earned him the support of industry figures like Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor, who convened in Washington for a roundtable to discuss the proposal on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, publicly demanding steeper rate cuts from the Fed and applying pressure to board members have become trademark features of his second presidency.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
