On January 18, the crypto world was taken by surprise with the announcement of Trump’s official memecoin, $TRUMP. Former President Donald Trump introduced the Solana (SOL)-based token via his social media accounts, directing users to purchase it through a centralized platform. This announcement propelled Solana’s native token, SOL, to a record-breaking all-time high of $270.

The Launch and Its Impact on Solana

The launch coincided with the “Crypto Ball,” a prestigious event held in Trump’s honor. The event was attended by industry leaders, including Michael Saylor, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the Winklevoss twins, and David Sacks.

Shortly after its debut, $TRUMP was listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bybit, Bitget, and KuCoin. The token’s distribution revealed that 80% of the total supply of 1 billion tokens was allocated to issuers. During the launch, 44.4 million $TRUMP tokens were added to single-sided liquidity pools, with the $TRUMP-USDC and $TRUMP-SOL pools standing out as the most prominent.

In a matter of hours, $TRUMP achieved a market cap of $6.9 billion, with trading volumes exceeding $7 billion. This explosive growth shook the memecoin market, leading to declines in other major tokens. Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) saw their prices drop by 6% and 7.5%, respectively.

Solana’s Edge and Ethereum’s Decline

The decision to launch $TRUMP on the Solana blockchain highlighted its advantages over Ethereum. Solana’s low transaction fees and high-speed infrastructure were key factors in this choice. While Trump had previously been linked to Ethereum-based World Liberty Finance, this shift underscored Solana’s growing dominance in the crypto space.

As of now, $TRUMP is trading at $24.60 and has become the 28th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Solana’s potential to surpass $300 per token hinges on several factors, including the approval of a Solana ETF by the SEC and increased institutional adoption.