It's $Trump (and $Melania) Day

Perhaps this is not the best look for the digital asset space on Inauguration Day.

Within 48 hours of its launch, Official Trump (TRUMP) soared to a market cap of around $14 billion (according to data aggregators like coingecko.com); epitomising much of what is disliked about crypto, by those who do.

The market cap of associated 'digital collectible', Melania Meme (MELANIA) peaked at just under $2 billion earlier on Monday, after first seeing the light of the day on Sunday.

High-profile crypto executives tend to be well disposed to President Donald Trump, and their reasons why, are well-known.

Still even a few of these expressed measured disapproval.

On one level though, with a total market cap of around $120 billion, meme coins as a whole can no longer be dismissed as entirely frivolous and inconsequential.

Meanwhile, the importance of their educational role as more accessible on-ramps into crypto's underlying technology, which is still largely abstruse to the average consumer, should also not be underestimated.

The significance of three of the largest meme coins (by market cap) to the blockchain economy, is such that CF Benchmarks publishes indices representing their economic reality.

Like most public CFB pricing sources, these indices are Registered Benchmarks under the UK Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) framework:

• DOGE - CF Dogecoin-Dollar Settlement Price
• SHIB - CF Shiba Inu-Dollar Settlement Price
• APE - CF Ape Coin-Dollar Settlement Price

Clearly, CFB does not enter into such undertakings lightly.

Reassuringly, neither $Trump, nor $Melania, or any other token touted as the "hottest digital meme on earth", will be afforded special treatment when it comes to the rigorous regulatory requirements CF Benchmarks is obliged to adhere to for index construction, as a Benchmark Administrator under UK BMR.

CF Benchmarks applies a similar set of agnostic, rules-based criteria to decide the eligibility of tokens for inclusion in our CF Digital Asset Classification Structure (CF DACS) - based on metrics like liquidity and asset turnover.

Also, on whether or not institutional custodial facilities are available for the asset that meet strict verifiable standards.

Tokens allocated to the Meme Coins Segment of our CF DACS Culture Sub-Category, are of course no exception.

So make no mistake, the inauguration of an administration that is set to be less confrontational to digital asset-focused businesses institutions (and probably more collaborative) is 100% welcome.

But to the extent that CF Benchmarks will continue to play our part in ensuring crypto evolves for the benefit of all, by maintaining the highest standards of market integrity, accuracy and governance, the next four years will be business as usual.

Understand our CF Digital Asset Classification Structure and our Benchmark Methodology in under 5 minutes, with two short videos.