Top xrp (XRP) and Ethereum’s ETH saw profit taking early Saturday as a Donald Trump-themed “official” memecoin attracted $3 billion in its first hours after being issued on the Solana network, pushing of 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 perceive Trump memecoin’s choice to issue token in Solana as bearish for Ethereum.
An “official” memecoin linked to Trump was issued early Asian hours on 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 over whether the token was backed by Trump, as reported.
Some fund managers consider the move bullish for memecoins: “The incoming President just gave all the licenses to launch a memecoin – $SOL gets the message, buckle up,” wrote Placeholder VC partner Chris Burniske at X.
Elsewhere, XRP fell 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 US presidential election and promised to make the country a hotbed for local crypto businesses — improving sentiment for tokens linked to the US company (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 January 20. The speculative move began unconfirmed reports that Trump is open to an “America-first strategic reserve that will prioritize digital coins established in the US, such as 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, sparking speculation that Ripple may have a direct channel to influence the incoming administration, leading to an increase in interest in XRP.
