SINGAPORE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's

newly-created cryptocurrency soared on Monday to nearly $12

billion in market value, drawing in billions in trading volume,

while bitcoin hit a record high just hours ahead of the U.S.

President-elect's return to the White House.

Launched on Friday, Trump's meme coin, also known as $TRUMP,

surged to $58.56 at 0820 GMT on Monday, giving it a market

capitalisaton of about $11.7 billion, according to

CoinMarketCap, which ranked it as the 18th biggest

cryptocurrency. Its 24-hour trading volume reached $52.5

billion.

Trump had on Friday launched the digital token with branding

including an image from his attempted assassination in July,

expanding his cryptocurrency interests that already include

World Liberty Financial. Of the total number of tokens, 80% are

owned by CIC Digital LLC, which is an affiliate of Trump's

business The Trump Organization, and another business called

Fight Fight Fight LLC, the token's website says.

Melania Trump launched her own cryptocurrency on Sunday,

which was trading at around $12.03, with a market cap of $1.9

billion, at 0820 GMT, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin hit at new all-time high of $109,071.86 in

early European trading. The world's largest cryptocurrency has

surged more than 10% so far this month.

"PANDORA'S BOX"

Even cryptocurrency community participants were surprised by

the launch of Trump's meme coin.

"While it's tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump

spectacle, the launch of the official Trump token opens up a

Pandora's box of ethical and regulatory questions," said Justin

D'Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.

While the coin represented a blending of the world of

decentralised finance (DeFi) into the political arena, it also

"blurs the lines between governance, profit, and influence,"

D'Anethan said.

"Should public figures, especially those with such political

clout, wield this kind of sway in speculative markets? That's a

question regulators are unlikely to ignore," he said.

Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro

Pacific Asset Management, pointed to the jump in $TRUMP's value

and called it the new digital gold, on messaging platform X.

Trump has promised to be a "crypto president", and is

expected to issue executive orders aimed at reducing crypto

regulatory roadblocks and promoting widespread adoption of

digital assets.

He is due to assume the presidency at noon ET (1700 GMT) on

Monday.

The prospect of looser regulations around crypto policy has

been met with fanfare by the industry and had turbocharged a

rally in bitcoin following Trump's election victory in November.

(Additional reporting by Rae Wee and Vidya Ranganathan in

Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Shri

Navaratnam)