US President Donald Trump’s meme coin just rewarded $1 million worth of tokens to 10 American businesses. It was part of the America First Business Challenge, which ran for nearly 3 months. 

The competition was announced back in April at the President’s Mar-a-Lago crypto conferences. Around 616 businesses applied for it, and 36 were approved. Now, 10 of them are walking away with a million dollars.

This could be the first time a meme coin was used for a business grant at such scale. But there’s a big twist here.

Back in April, the 36 businesses had to buy the TRUMP meme coin before they were eligible for the grant. So, buy TRUMP and then get TRUMP back in rewards?

The pot is split into one award of $250,000, six of $100,000, and three of $50,000. No winner gave up a share of their company.

There was one condition on voting. Participants had to connect a crypto wallet that held TRUMP. That turned the contest into a reason to buy. Ahead of the Mar-a-Lago event that launched it, whale wallets holding TRUMP climbed to a five-month high.

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The Coin’s Own Website Denies It Has Any Use

GetTrumpMemes.com calls TRUMP an expression of support, not an investment. It states the token has no payment function and no commercial integration.

“Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol “$TRUMP” and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”

Read plainly, that rules out spending it. A winner cannot pay staff or a supplier in TRUMP. To use the grant, they have to sell it.

Selling means competing with a lot of future supply. Only 250.9 million tokens circulate out of a 1 billion cap, so roughly 75% has yet to arrive.

Two companies control most of it. CIC Digital LLC, a Trump Organization affiliate, and Fight Fight Fight LLC hold 80% on a three-year unlock. Both also collect trading fees.

The Last TRUMP Contest Ended With Holders Selling

This is not the first prize the coin has dangled. In May 2025, the top 220 holders won a dinner with Trump.

Investors spent more than $145 million buying the token to compete. Then 26 members of Congress wrote to the Justice Department.

“After the contest closed, at least 34 of the top 220 investors sold most of their meme coin holdings, further confirming that the $TRUMP meme coin is not a worthwhile investment, but rather a vehicle to buy influence with the Trump Administration,” read the lawmakers’ letter dated May 22, 2025.

Organizers frame the challenge differently. Their launch pitch was money for founders outside venture networks.

The same letter puts insider trading fees above $320 million since launch. The grant pool is worth less than one three-hundredth of that.

Scale tells a similar story. TRUMP turns over about $642 million a day in trading volume, so the entire $1 million fits within roughly two minutes of trading. The price is moving fast, too. TRUMP trades near $2.74, up 25% in the last 24 hours.

Even so, the TRUMP token’s price chart sits 96.3% below its January 2025 peak. It touched an all-time low of $1.37 on August 13. The rally began before the grants were announced, not after.

A key detail is still missing. Nobody has named the 10 winners, so no transfer on Solana can be matched to any business.

Until those names appear, the case for utility rests on a social media post. The real test is simpler than the debate. Can one of these 10 companies actually spend what it won?

Source: BeInCrypto