Incoming US president Donald Trump briefly saw the capitalisation of his newly-minted meme coin $Trump more than halve upon the release of a similar crypto token by his wife Melania.
The price of Trump's token had more than tripled to more than $70 (£57), giving it a total value of over $14bn shortly after its launch on Friday.
Shortly after the launch of $Melania, the price of $Trump fell by more than 50%, from $75 to $30, before staging a subsequent recovery to about $64. The market capitalisation of $Melania reached as high as $13bn.
Both tokens have broken into the top 20 of all cryptocurrencies, leading to a sales frenzy as traders sold their holdings in other meme coins to pile into the Trump market.
Market analysts have been astonished by Trump's galvanzing efffect on the cryptocurrency market, which has pushed bitcoin prices to a new high of $108,943, ahead of his inauguration as president.
In a move that will further roil themarket, Trump is set to release an executive order designating cryptocurrency a national priority. The executive order could include a directive for all government agencies to review crypto policies and put a pause on any litigation involving crypto.