- Lorenzo Sewell has launched a memecoin, following his head-turning appearance at Donald Trump’s inauguration. That has brought a wave of criticism, as the coin flounders.
Lorenzo Sewell, the Michigan pastor who led the benediction at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony Monday, is turning heads again after launching his own memecoin shortly after leaving the stage.
In a post on Twitter/X made at 3:34 p.m. On Monday, Sewell unveiled the cryptocurrency, writing: “The crypto community was kind enough to send me $Lorenzo, so I have permanently locked my tokens into a Liquidity Pool, so that I will never sell on the community but rather just earn fees as our token continues to flourish!”
In a video attached to the post, he asked followers to “do [him] a favor and go and get that coin” to help him accomplish what he called God’s vision on Earth. “”I want you to be able to see politics become manifest not just in a way where we’re praying over political gatherings but where we’re seeing us become the hands and the feet of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Would you help me?”
Sewell turned heads during the inauguration by citing Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in his invocation; he was a fierce supporter of Trump in the 2024 campaign, speaking at the Republican National Convention and hosting Trump at his church.
Reaction to his launch of the coin, particularly so soon after his moment in the national spotlight, has been a strong backlash on social media. Many users have accused him of trying to swindle people, and one accused him of “stealing from the poor.”
Stealing from the poor is an affront to the gospel.
— Christopher Hale (@chrisjollyhale) January 20, 2025
You seem like an embarrassing fake Christian trying to grift off people.
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) January 20, 2025
While memecoins for Trump and his wife Melania have both seen sharp gains since their launch, Sewell’s token has not caught on fire. As of Thursday morning, the price stood at $0.0002541—and the market cap was less than $267,000.