Donald Trump’s memecoin inspires flood of imitators

Today’s agenda: Baltic states leave Russia grid; EU satellite woes; UK carbon capture doubts; Marks and Spencer’s ESG tax hit; and Altman and Son

Good morning. We begin with an exclusive story on Donald Trump’s new cryptocurrency, which has sparked a flood of imitators and led to warnings that investors risk being duped. Here’s what a Financial Times analysis has found.

Copycat coins: The FT found 736 different memecoins that have been deposited in the official Trump coin wallet over the past three weeks. Among them, nearly 200 — including “OFFICIAL TRUMP” and “OFFICIAL MELANIA” — are named after the president or members of his family but have no connection to him.

Risk exposure: Appearing in a high-profile wallet such as the official Trump reserve increases the visibility of tokens and the possibility that traders may confuse them for official coins. It may also give the illusion of official Trump backing, which could push up the price. “For the uniformed investor it’s very difficult to separate the genuine projects” from copycat coins, said one professor. Read the full report.

• Mood shift: US dealmaking has suffered its worst start to a year in a decade as policy volatility and Trump’s tariffs put a sudden chill on activity.

• US tax: Trump wants to end the “carried interest” loophole used by private equity and hedge funds, setting up a potential clash with America’s wealthiest financiers.

• Trade fears: The president’s latest tariff threats have sparked alarm among farmers in Republican breadbasket states such as Iowa.

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Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• US: Donald Trump meets Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Washington today. The 59th Super Bowl takes place in New Orleans on Sunday, with the Kansas City Chiefs competing against the Philadelphia Eagles.

• Elections: Voters go to the polls in Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Ecuador on Sunday.

• Results: Ashmore Group, Banco Sabadell, Danske Bank and Skanska report.

Five more top stories

1. The Baltic states will sever the last major energy link to Russia and become part of the EU’s electricity network on Sunday. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will leave the so-called Brell system that has connected them to Moscow since the end of the second world war. Synchronisation with the EU grid, however, is not without risks, said officials.

• EU energy: Jens Stoltenberg has rejected accusations that Norway was a “war profiteer” for selling record quantities of gas to Europe after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Satellite woes: Investors are growing increasingly concerned about the finances of two of Europe’s largest satellite operators as they face rising competition from Elon Musk’s Starlink.

2. Big Tech’s massive spending on artificial intelligence is set to continue unchecked in 2025, after Amazon topped its rivals yesterday with a planned $100bn-plus investment in infrastructure this year, dismissing concerns about the vast sums being bet on the nascent technology. More on the top four US players’ AI capex plans.

3. Britain’s carbon capture and storage technology projects are facing the threat of Treasury cuts following warnings from MPs that the “high risk” policy should be reassessed to make sure it is “affordable for taxpayers and consumers”. Doubts are growing in the government about the viability of a technology promoted as critical to its regional growth strategy.

4. Exclusive: Marks and Spencer is braced for an annual hit of £40mn from sustainability taxes. The levy, meant to reduce unsustainable packaging at UK retailers, is expected to generate as much as £2bn a year, laying bare the industry’s mounting costs beyond those arising from Labour’s October Budget. Read more about the recycling tax’s impact.

5. Exclusive: London’s stock market is a better option than New York for a flotation as companies run the risk of “disappearing” in the crowd in the US, according to the chief executive leading one of the largest planned listings in the UK. Read the FT interview with Evangelos Mytilineos of Metlen Energy and Metals.

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News in-depth

Sam Altman’s OpenAI has become one of the fastest-growing start-ups of all time but is straining to grow beyond its partnership with Microsoft. That has cleared a path for SoftBank to lead the largest-ever start-up investment — $40bn into the maker of ChatGPT. In return, Son gets something he craves: a place at the centre of the AI world.

We’re also reading and listening to

• Weak outlook: The Bank of England’s grim snapshot of the UK economy highlights the scale of the challenge for chancellor Rachel Reeves to lift economic growth.

• Quantum leap? Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have put another potentially transformative idea, quantum computing, in the shade, writes Richard Waters.

• Gold revisited: The asset’s allure is rising as the unimaginable becomes imaginable in a financial Alice-in-Wonderland world, writes Gillian Tett.

• The Economics Show 🎧: Martin Sandbu asks Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvard, if there is an industrial policy rationale for Trump’s tariff brinkmanship.

Graphic of the day

Trouble at the UK’s Office for National Statistics means policymakers cannot rely on key economic numbers, including on employment. Its data collection problems are turning into a cautionary tale for agencies around the world.

Take a break from the news

Morocco’s Macaal museum, considered one of the most extensive and important collections of contemporary African art, reopens after an 18-month, $1mn renovation with an expansive show that charts the sharp shifts that Marrakech has experienced in the past 70 years.