The website for the coin describes “Melania Memes” as “fungible crypto assets created and tracked on the Solana blockchain.”

The new business venture by the Trump family is generating intensifying criticism and ethics questions, even as it has turned into an overnight phenomenon, generating a windfall on paper.

Incoming first lady Melania Trump has launched a cryptocurrency on the eve of her husband's inauguration as US president. The announcement comes a day after President-elect Donald Trump launched the $Trump cryptocurrency. Both coins have risen but have seen volatile trade.

President-elect Trump has launched his own crypto token called Trump coin. In less than 24 hours, the coin has had a 12,000% gain and has seen billions in trading volume.

Trump's embrace of cryptocurrency could mark a change from the regulatory hammer that has fallen on crypto companies under the Biden administration.

Ahead of his return to the White House, the United States, US President-elect Donald Trump has launched his own cryptocurrency, $Trump. BBC reports that the meme coin quickly soared in market capitalisation to several billion dollars hours after it was launched.