Trump-Themed Memecoin Attracts $3B, Shifts Sentiment for XRP and ETH

Top-performing xrp (XRP) and Ethereum’s ETH saw profit taking early Saturday as a Donald Trump-themed “official” memecoin attracted $3 billion

A new memecoin, themed after Donald Trump and issued on the Solana network, saw a rapid uptake on Saturday, attracting $3 billion in the first few hours after being announced from the former U.S. president's verified X and Truth Social accounts.

Priced between a few cents to $14, the token was announced in the morning Asian hours on X, linking to the Solana network and quickly trending on cryptocurrency exchanges, despite the low single-digit price gains.

Related: Trump Memecoin Launches on Solana, Raises $3B in Hours

The new token, called "TRUMP," is an ERC-20 token that was announced on X from an account that appears to belong to Trump. The token is priced at a few cents and is designed to be burned quickly, according to its X announcement.

“This is the official Trump digital trading card collection,” the X post reads, adding:

“Collect them all and trade them with friends and family. They make a great Christmas gift!”

The announcement redirects users to a website where they can connect their Solana wallets to mint the tokens, which are then credited to their wallets on the Solana network.

Minimal price action in BTC, memecoin gains muted

Prices for major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC), dogecoin (DOGE) and BNB Chain's BNB, saw little movement on Saturday as the new Trump memecoin shifted attention away from XRP and ETH.

Demand for XRP slumped by as much as 5% on the day, paring gains from a 40% price rally over the past seven days. Interest in the token surged after early November when Republican Trump won the U.S. presidential elections and promised to turn the country into a hotbed for local crypto businesses — boosting 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.

Some fund managers are reading the Trump memecoin move as bullish for memecoins, however.

“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. https://t.co/ZURQfsh8QI

Meanwhile, demand for solana (SOL) tokens surged after the Trump memecoin was announced on Solana and quickly picked up by crypto exchanges. Prices rose by 3% to hit $24.36 at the time of writing.