Donald Trump’s re-election as US president has brought many firsts. The launch of an official cryptocurrency on Friday might be the most surprising. This token has no inherent value. But depending on how you look at it, it may have some use.

Badged $TRUMP, the president-elect’s new crypto wheeze was worth about $10bn by Monday, based on the circulating supply, six times its debut market capitalisation. That is a long way from bitcoin, the $2tn goliath of crypto. But as so-called memecoins go, it’s impressive, ranking third after canine-inspired digital assets Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. A separate memecoin launched by Melania Trump notched up a $2bn valuation by Monday, narrowly behind $2.5bn token Fartcoin.

But what exactly is it? Not an investment, says the small print — more an “expression of support”. Put another way, for all the hype, $TRUMP is just a new spin on presidential collectibles, like a red Maga cap, or a bobble-headed dashboard doll, only with less utility and much more volatile price. Trump had already taken merch into the digital age, lending his image to a series of non-fungible tokens — essentially digital artworks — including depictions of him as George Washington, and a golden chess piece.