Just days ahead of his return to the White House, President Trump and his wife, Melania, launched a pair of meme coins that have skyrocketed in value and earned them billions of dollars, at least on paper.

President Donald Trump promised crypto investors he’d usher in an era of legitimacy for an industry that’s long been relegated to the financial wilderness — dismissed by some mainstream investors as an highly speculative bet at best or an elaborate Ponzi scheme at worst.

President Donald Trump’s goodwill in the cryptocurrency industry has taken a hit after he and his wife launched meme coins — a move critics say looks like an unseemly cash grab that undermines an effort to legitimize digital assets.