MoonPay Repaid Emergency Loans From Galaxy and Ripple After Trump Memecoin Launch

Loans from Galaxy and Ripple played a crucial role in helping crypto exchange MoonPay manage the overwhelming demand for Donald Trump's official memecoin

Crypto exchange MoonPay obtained loans from Galaxy and Ripple to facilitate the high demand for Donald Trump's official memecoin, which soared to a market capitalization of over $10 billion within 48 hours of its launch on January 18.

The token, which marked the first time a sitting U.S. president was directly linked to a memecoin, generated more than $20 billion in trading volume. However, the surge in demand occurred on a Saturday, leaving MoonPay unable to access over $100 million in liquidity due to banking closures over the weekend and a public holiday on Monday for Trump's swearing-in.

With no immediate access to fiat reserves, MoonPay sought emergency loans to maintain liquidity and meet trading demand. MoonPay executives, including President Keith Grossman, CEO Ivan Soto-Wright, and CFO Mouna Siala, initially turned to Galaxy Digital's Mike Novogratz for a $100 million loan in USD Coin (USDC). The deal was quickly secured after vetting with a BlackRock executive, where MoonPay held its reserves.

As trading volume continued to rise, MoonPay faced another liquidity gap. The launch of Melania Trump's memecoin, MELANIA, further increased demand, requiring an additional $60 million.

Grossman reached out to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, admitting they had “underestimated the demand” for the Trump token. Ripple agreed to provide the funds, but only after MoonPay's leadership pledged personal assets and proved there were no liens on its reserve capital.

MoonPay fully repaid both loans on January 21, the first business day after the long weekend, after regaining access to its reserves. That same week, the company onboarded 750,000 new users, highlighting the surge in interest following Trump’s entry into the memecoin market.

Despite the explosive debut, TRUMP has since fallen 79% from its Jan. 19 peak. Entities behind Trump’s cryptocurrency accumulated close to $100 million in trading fees in less than two weeks, according to estimates from three blockchain analysis firms, including Merkle Science and Chainalysis.

The meme coin, launched on January 17, saw a meteoric rise to a $14.5 billion market value before losing two-thirds of its peak valuation.

Blockchain data shows that while at least 50 large investors in the coin made over $10 million each, nearly 200,000 smaller traders suffered losses, according to Chainalysis.

The Trump token was first issued on Meteora, a decentralized finance (DeFi) exchange that allows creators to mint meme coins and collect fees. Trading fees for $Trump are distributed among the coin’s creators, with Meteora itself taking a portion.