XRP has flipped Tether (USDT) in market cap, reaching $158.86 billion and surpassing USDT’s $142.38 billion valuation, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The crypto market is on fire, with XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) soaring in the past 24 hours — a rally fueled by Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social.
The president doubled down on his pro-crypto stance, announcing plans for a U.S. Crypto Reserve that would include XRP, SOL, and ADA, Bitcoin and Ether.
“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA,” Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that he will make “sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.”
Following Trump’s statement, XRP surged 26.1%, ADA skyrocketed 49.7%, and SOL gained 18.1%. Investors are speculating that Trump’s endorsement of specific altcoins could bring increased institutional and government adoption.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) also saw gains, with BTC rising 3.8% to $87,894 and ETH climbing 2.9% to $2,237.
Short traders wiped out as market spikes
With prices surging, short sellers betting against the market were hit hard. In the past 24 hours, 93,415 traders were liquidated, bringing total liquidations to $356.36 million, according to CoinGlass. The largest single liquidation order occurred on HTX’s BTC-USDT pair, totaling $39.86 million.
Of the $357.7 million in liquidations, $248.67 million (69.52%) were shorts, meaning traders betting on lower prices were burned as crypto prices soared.
One whale, who was long on BTC and ETH with 50x leverage, has closed most of his positions, pocketing over $6.8 million in just one day, according to on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain.