The "Sanae Token" Craze Emerges on February 25
Takaichi: "Completely Unaware and Never Granted Approval"
Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan, has flatly denied any connection to the cryptocurrency "Sanae Token," which bears her name. On March 2, through the social networking service X, she stated, "It seems there have been various misunderstandings because of my name, but I am completely unaware of this token."
She added, "My parliamentary office has also never received any information regarding this token," and emphasized, "I have not granted any type of approval, so I hope the public will not be misled."
Sanae Token is a cryptocurrency launched on February 25 by Japanese entrepreneur Yuji Mizoguchi, 42. The project's website features an illustration of Prime Minister Takaichi along with the promotional phrase, "Not just another meme coin, but Japan's hope."
According to data from the cryptocurrency wallet Phantom as of March 3, this coin had a market capitalization of 8 million dollars (approximately 1.17 billion won) and a daily trading volume of 492,000 dollars (about 724 million won). The price, which was 0.1 yen (about 1 won) at launch, soared by roughly 26 times to 2.6 yen (about 26 won), riding on the high approval ratings of the Takaichi cabinet.
However, the price plummeted immediately after Prime Minister Takaichi publicly distanced herself from the token. Japanese media reported that, after a wave of complaints from investors who suffered losses, the operator ultimately issued an apology.
This is not the first controversy involving cryptocurrencies named after politicians. In January last year, U.S. President Donald Trump directly issued the "Official Trump" coin in line with his bid for re-election. The price initially skyrocketed by about seventy times to reach 74 dollars (approximately 110,000 won), but has since dropped to around 3.4 dollars (about 5,000 won).
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