Trump Memecoin Launch Breaks Records
On January 18, 2025, the cryptocurrency market was taken by surprise when President-elect Donald Trump launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin without prior notice.
The announcement was made through Trump's social media accounts, directing users to purchase the Solana-based token via a specified centralized intermediary and providing the contract address.
The memecoin's launch triggered a significant rally in Solana, propelling it to an all-time high of $293.79.
This surge led traders to question the sustainability of SOL's current market capitalization of approximately $132 billion and its implications for Ethereum, Solana's primary competitor.
Previously, Ethereum was perceived as Trump's favored platform due to its association with World Liberty Financial, a project closely linked to Trump.
However, the decision to launch the Official Trump memecoin on the Solana network has raised eyebrows.
Adding to the intrigue, the launch coincided with the "Crypto Ball," an event honoring Trump that brought together industry leaders such as Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the Winklevoss twins of Gemini, and David Sacks, Trump's crypto and artificial intelligence adviser.
The sold-out event took place just a few blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C.
Despite the competitive memecoin market, the Official Trump (TRUMP) token quickly achieved a market capitalization of approximately $9.2 billion, with trading volumes exceeding $42 billion across decentralized and centralized exchanges.
The memecoin launched with 200 million tokens in circulation and a total supply of up to 1 billion, with 80% allocated to the issuers.
Issuers reportedly deposited 44.4 million TRUMP tokens into single-sided liquidity pools, meaning no direct pairing with assets like stablecoins.
The decentralized exchange Meteora (DEX) was chosen to manage the automated market-making (AMM) process alongside Jupiter DEX.
The two largest liquidity pools were TRUMP-USDC, with a total value locked (TVL) of $483 million, and TRUMP-SOL, holding $67 million.
Currently trading at $46.06, the Official Trump (TRUMP) token is ranked as the 19th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
For comparison, TRUMP's trading volume has surpassed Dogecoin, the oldest memecoin and a sector leader with a $58 billion market cap.
As a result, Solana's decentralized platforms, such as Meteora and Raydium, saw significant benefits from the TRUMP token launch.
The memecoin market overall experienced a negative impact as traders shifted their focus to the President-elect's token.
More than 200,000 users purchased Official Trump (TRUMP) directly through its official app, Moonshot, which facilitated nearly $400 million in trading volume.
In contrast, Dogecoin dropped 6%, Shiba Inu fell 7.5%, PEPE declined by 10.5%, and Dogwifhat saw an 8% decrease.
For Ether holders, the event posed a double challenge. First, it strengthened Solana's position as the go-to ecosystem for token launches.
Second, it diminished expectations that the Trump administration might favor Ethereum despite Trump's previous connections to the Ethereum-based World Liberty Finance project.
Whether the Official Trump (TRUMP) token can maintain its price above $20 remains uncertain.
Furthermore, for SOL's price to break through $300, the Solana network must significantly expand its market share in terms of deposits and institutional adoption.
This growth is also contingent on the approval of a Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which remains a key catalyst for future gains.
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