Top-performing xrp (XRP) and Ethereum’s ETH saw profit taking early Saturday as a Donald Trump-themed “official” memecoin attracted $3 billion in its first few hours after being issued on the Solana network, driving demand for SOL tokens.
Price-action in bitcoin (BTC) and most majors, such as dogecoin (DOGE) and BNB Chain’s BNB, remained muted as the TRUMP token shifted sentiment for XRP and ETH. Traders perceived the Trump memecoin’s choice of issuing the token on Solana as bearish for Ethereum.
An “official” memecoin linked to Trump was issued in early Asian hours Saturday from his verified X and Truth Social accounts. Prices ran from a few cents to $14 in less than six hours amid widespread confusion on whether the token was backed by Trump, as reported.
Some fund managers consider the move to be bullish for memecoins: “The incoming President just gave everyone license to launch a memecoin – $SOL is getting the message, buckle up,” Placeholder VC partner Chris Burniske wrote on X.
The incoming President just gave everyone license to launch a memecoin – $SOL is getting the message, buckle up. pic.twitter.com/ZURQfsh8QI
— Chris Burniske (@cburniske) January 18, 2025
Elsewhere, XRP slumped as much as 5% to pare gains from a 40% gain over the past 7 days. Demand for XRP has surged since early November when Republican Trump won the U.S. presidential elections and promised to make the country a hotbed for local crypto businesses — improving sentiment for tokens linked to U.S. companies (XRP is closely related to New York-based Ripple Labs.)
XRP broke the $3 mark for the first time since 2018 on Friday ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The speculative move came on unconfirmed reports that Trump was open to an “America-first strategic reserve that would prioritize digital coins founded in the U.S., like Solana, USD Coin and Ripple.”
Talks of any strategic reserve have so far only included plans for bitcoin holdings.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had at least one meeting with the President-elect in early January, bumping speculation that Ripple could potentially have a direct channel to influence the incoming administration, causing heightened interest in XRP.