This past Saturday witnessed a significant shift in the cryptocurrency landscape as top-performing cryptocurrencies such as XRP and Ethereum’s ETH experienced notable profit-taking. The catalyst for this market movement was the launch of a Donald Trump-themed “official” memecoin, which astonishingly attracted $3 billion within hours of its issuance on the Solana network. This developmental surge effectively shifted market demand towards SOL tokens.
The price-action observed in Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin (DOGE) and BNB Chain’s BNB, remained relatively muted. Traders expressed a bearish sentiment towards Ethereum, owing to the choice of the Trump memecoin being established on the Solana platform.
Launched early in the Asian hours on Saturday, the Trump memecoin emerged from the former president’s verified X and Truth Social accounts. It exhibited an incredible price fluctuation, skyrocketing from a few cents to $14 in less than six hours, further muddled by uncertainty surrounding its actual endorsement from Trump, as reported.
According to several fund managers, the emergence of this memecoin could have positive implications for memecoins broadly. Placeholder VC partner Chris Burniske commented on X, “The incoming President just gave everyone license to launch a memecoin – $SOL is getting the message, buckle up.” This perspective reflects an optimistic outlook on the potential for new projects within the memecoin ecosystem.
In contrast, XRP saw a decline of as much as 5%, which served to temper the token’s impressive 40% gain observed over the preceding week. The demand for XRP had surged since early November, particularly following the Republican Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections, where he indicated intentions to foster a conducive atmosphere for local crypto businesses—an event that positively impacted sentiment for tokens associated with U.S. enterprises, such as XRP, which is closely linked to New York-based Ripple Labs.
On Friday, XRP remarkably surpassed the $3 mark for the first time since 2018, just ahead of Trump’s inauguration scheduled for January 20. This speculative drive was motivated by unconfirmed reports that Trump may be considering an “America-first strategic reserve” that would favor digital currencies founded in the U.S., including Solana, USD Coin, and Ripple.
However, discussions regarding any strategic reserve thus far have only encapsulated plans for Bitcoin holdings. It was also reported that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse met with the President-elect in early January, inciting speculation that Ripple may possess a direct avenue to influence the incoming administration, further intensifying interest in XRP.
