The Trump inauguration was filled with memorable moments; from the Melania Trump's hat situation to the controversial discussion surrounding Elon Musk, we can say that the day was nothing short of exciting.

One of the standout moments of the event was when Rev. Lorenzo Sewell, a former gang leader and now Senior Pastor in a Michigan church delivered a very inspiring and powerful benediction at the inauguration.

Many noticed that Rev. Sewell's benediction drew great inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech and the Declaration of Independence. During a part of his speech, Sewell thanked God for the "millimeter miracle" that saved Trump from a July assassination attempt, and he proclaimed that America was on the verge of "dreaming again.

Rev. Sewell's special mention of Martin Luther King was partly because the Trump inauguration day coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But later that evening, Rev. Sewell posted a video on X, where he announced the launch of his official cryptocurrency token.

Rev. Sewell also called his followers to support his token in order to help the ministry and concluded that "we know that king's dream can only be fulfilled if we acknowledge that people are living in a nightmare."

But his announcement was immediately met with backlash, as critics questioned the ethics of launching a memecoin tied to a ministry. Soon the comment section was filled with hate comments, many accusing him of using this opportunity to exploit unsuspecting victims.

Part of the reason why many were so skeptical about his token was partly because of his complicated past....

Rev. Sewell: A Polarizing Figure

Rev. Lorenzo Sewell walked down a life of crimes after the death of his younger brother and incarceration of his father, and he eventually became a gang member.

But Sewell experienced a profound spiritual transformation during his senior year in high school, which shifted his path towards Christianity and pastoral leadership. Sewell has also been a controversial character because of his political stance and ideology.

One of such is his belief in intertwining of the bibile and politics. Rev. Sewell once said

"The gospel message is the political message and the bible is a political book. You cannot be a spiritual person and not be political."

Part of his controversial character also stems from his support from Trump. Trump's supporters probably won't be that surprised to see Rev. Sewell delivering a prayer at the inauguration given how he has been so actively involved in the 2024 campaign, presenting pro-Trump Christian events, giving speeches alongside the future president in churches and addressing the public at a Republican National Convention.

But his support for Trump wasn't well received from his church members, who weren't all that happy to have a pro-Trump supporter pastor. On one occasion, Sewell was even mistakenly arrested by the police for breaking into the church after his members changed the lock on the church door, locking him outside of his church.

But all these didn't waver Rev.Sewell's admiration for President Trump. On one of their meetups, Sewell expressed his admiration for Trump's resilience and how he continued to soldier on despite the many difficulties he faced during his run for presidency.

The memecoin that sparked public hatred

While the $Trump and $Melania coin also received its fair share of criticism, but what it received was nothing compared to the $Lorenzo memecoin.

In his X post, Sewell claims he decided not to sell Lorenzo tokens and instead lock them permanently in the Liquidity Pools to earn fees and let the token flourish. In the video, he also asked the public to do him a favor and buy the official Lorenzo coin. But his video received nothing but hate messages from the community.

One wrote that what Sewell was promoting was shitcoins.

Another flamed Sewell of using this opportunity to exploit money from unsuspecting victims, quoting how he used to do the same when he was selling dope in the streets during his time in a gang.

Others also said that he staged his performance during the inauguration to make a heartfelt prayer, all for the purpose of promoting his own token afterwards.

Journalist Nic Carter added to the debate, warning of the potential risks associated with political figures launching tokens. He suggested that such tokens could be leveraged by external actors to influence national affairs, raising concerns about the implications of Sewell’s $Lorenzo coin.

It also wasn't surprising that just hours after the launch of the token, the coin managed to reach a peak of $18.76M market cap. But within just 4 hours, it crashed almost 100%, leaving the crypto community totally stunned.