This week has been interesting for crypto enthusiasts with Trump’s presidency being at the center of the developments. The hype surrounding the US first family’s PolitiFi tokens and the subsequent surge in the bullish market sentiment bolstered Bitcoin price to a fresh all-time high on Monday. 

However, BTC/USD and other cryptos have since pulled back as interest in the PolitiFi tokens fades and market volatility eases. Even so, iDEGEN remains steady. Notably, the project’s resilience is founded on its appeal beyond its virality. It bears immense potential to revolutionize the AI meme coin space and broader crypto market.

Bitcoin price pulls back as interest in PolitiFi tokens fades

On Friday last week, the US president launched his meme coin, $Trump. In less than 24 hours, feverish buying among meme coin enthusiasts had the crypto’s market cap surpass $5 billion. 

Two days later, the US first lady, Melania Trump launched $Melania. As the hype surrounding this meme coin eases, its value has dropped from $2.21 billion on Monday to a market cap of $756.59 million. Besides, over the past 24 hours, its price has dropped by 8.84% with its trading volume falling by 72.71% during this timeframe.

Similarly, as at the time of writing, $Trump was at a market cap of $8.32 billion with its trading volume down by 40% over the past 24 hours. Indeed, this is a significant drop from the $14.30 billion market cap recorded at the start of the week. 

Evidently, the Trump wind that propelled Bitcoin to a fresh all-time high of $109,026.02 isn’t strong enough to sustain it there. At the time of this publication, the crypto major was at $104,969.82 as the bulls strive to break the resistance at around $106,500. 

In the short term, BTC/USD will likely continue to find support at $102,090 as a crypto-friendly US administration strengthens the bullish sentiment. With more buyers riding the wave, the bulls may gather enough momentum to break the resistance at $106,500 to the next target at $108,080. On the flip side, a corrective pullback past the current trading range may have it finding support at $99,700.

Storm sweeping across new meme coins leaves iDEGEN untouched

The highly volatile $Trump and $Melania coins remain subject to the all-so-common pump and dump wave in the absence of a fresh catalyst. Indeed, the tokens are in consolidation as meme coin enthusiasts look past the recent swearing in ceremony.

As the dust settles, crypto majors and meme coins alike are recording corrective pullbacks. For instance, Solana, which largely benefitted from the launch of $Trump, is down from the new all-time high it hit on Sunday at $295.83 to $262.53 at the time of this press release. Similarly, DOGE/USD was down from the 6-week high it reached on Saturday at $0.4350 to $0.3627.

Amid this storm, iDEGEN has continued to thrive. With slightly over a month left before its listing, the project has raised over $17.65 million in its unique presale auction. Besides, about two months since its launch, its toke price has increased from $0.0001 to $0.0133. 

Notably, its pricing model is one of the aspects that continue to fuel its appeal among everyday investors and monied individuals alike. In most cases, the creators come up with random figures that do not necessarily match the project’s value or demand 

In comparison, $IDGN’s token price moves on the principle of transparency. In the initial phase of its auction, the dynamic pricing model ensured that the token’s price moved in tandem with its demand. 

The project has since shifted to a stage-based model ahead of its listing on 27th February. The team justified this move on X stating, 

“While the dynamic auction has been well received, we’ve heard your feedback, and know some of you are concerned about price manipulation and bad actors pushing prices up with small SOL buys. It’s believed that the price manipulation was aimed at driving the listing price as high as possible. To fix this, we’re making things simpler so its easier for everyone to track the presale and make better decisions”. 

The shift further proves that iDEGEN is keen on transforming the AI meme coin space without dismissing its community in the process. It is this reliability that has attracted the over 20,000 holders to the project. With close to 12,000% in returns, these early adopters are already sitting on hefty profits. 

Read more on how to buy iDEGEN token.

Ripple price holds steady above $3 on investor confidence

Ripple price chart by TradingView

Ripple price has been trading above the crucial level fo $3 since the beginning of the week. The rallying has been fueled by the swearing in of a pro-crypto US president and the subsequent surge in investor confidence.

President Trump, who has evolved into a supporter and investor of crypto is expected to create and sustain an environment upon which the digital assets will thrive. Indeed, two days after returning to the Oval Office, he is already lowering the regulatory barriers.

Acting SEC Cair, Mark Uyeda has launched a crypto task force meant to develop a clear and detailed regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. This approach is different from Biden’s administration which included an “anti-crypto” SEC Chair, Gary Gensler. 

Seeing that Ripple price was largely burdened by regulatory struggles during the past government, it is set to continue on its uptrend on the back of heightened investor confidence. In the short term, the range between $2.82 and $3.40 will be worth watching. 

XRP price has surged 17% in the last seven days and over 3% in the past 24 hours, reflecting strong recent performance. As the third-largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), XRP boasts a market capitalization nearing $185 billion.

Despite this growth, its trading volume has dropped 55% in the last 24 hours, now at $7.55 billion. This mixed activity highlights the importance of examining key indicators like RSI, whale movements, and EMA trends to assess the next potential price direction for XRP.

XRP RSI Has Been Neutral for 5 Days

XRP Relative Strength Index is currently at 52.3, holding a neutral stance since January 17, five days ago. For the past two days, the RSI has remained close to the 50 level, suggesting a balanced market with no strong buying or selling pressure.

This neutral reading implies XRP price is in a consolidation phase, where the price is neither trending upward nor downward significantly, awaiting potential catalysts to define its next move.

The RSI is a widely used momentum indicator that evaluates the strength and speed of price changes on a scale from 0 to 100. An RSI below 30 signals oversold conditions, potentially indicating a price rebound, while an RSI above 70 suggests overbought levels and possible downward corrections.

With XRP’s RSI sitting at 52.3, the sentiment is neutral, showing no signs of excessive bullish or bearish activity. If the RSI begins to rise above 60 or drop below 40, it could indicate that momentum is shifting, potentially signaling the start of a new trend for XRP.

XRP Whales Are Reaching Its Highest Levels Ever

The number of XRP whales, defined as addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP, has reached an all-time high of 2,083. This represents an important milestone in accumulation, as the count has been steadily rising since late December.

On December 21, there were 1,958 such addresses, highlighting a notable growth trend over the past month.

Tracking whale activity is crucial because these addresses often have the ability to influence market trends. Large accumulations by whales can indicate bullish sentiment, as their buying activity may reduce available supply and support price increases.

With the current whale count at its highest level ever, it suggests heightened interest and potential positioning ahead of a major market movement. If this trend continues, it could point to increasing demand and long-term confidence in XRP price.

XRP Price Prediction: Will It Correct by 26.8%?

XRP EMA lines remain bullish, with short-term lines positioned above long-term ones, signaling an overall upward trend. However, the lack of upward movement in recent days suggests a period of consolidation in the market.

This pause in momentum reflects a more balanced state, with neither buyers nor sellers currently dominating.

If XRP price can regain its uptrend, it may test the resistance at $3.40, a key level that could indicate renewed strength. Conversely, if the trend reverses, the price may first test the support at $2.82.

A break below this level could lead to further declines, with $2.60 and $2.32 as potential lower targets. Losing the $2.32 support would represent a significant 26.8% decrease.

In a bizarre development, an alleged kidnapping story of Ledger co-founder Eric Larchevêque is apparently a hoax. There is little information about Larchevêque‘s current whereabouts, but a “Justice for Eric” meme coin launched and crashed.

This strange episode took off like wildfire through crypto social media, but there was apparently not a scrap of proof.

Who Kidnapped Eric Larchevêque?

Ledger, a hardware wallet firm based in France, has experienced some difficulties recently. Its most recent major headlines were related to phishing scams targeting its users. However, today’s incident is far more dramatic.

According to local media, Ledger’s co-founder Eric Larchevêque was kidnapped. The report even alleged that the criminals demanded Bitcoin as a ransom.

This incident raises a lot of questions. For one, Larchevêque hasn’t been involved with Ledger since resigning in 2019. It appears that the kidnapping was staged, but this claim comes from an odd source.

Eventhough the rumor spread like a wildfire across social media, Larchevêque didn’t make any posts clarifying his current state. He’s a fairly active user on X (formerly Twitter), yet his last post was over 24 hours ago.

Instead, local crypto reporter Grégory Raymond stated that it was a hoax.

“We are able to assure that Eric Larchevêque (co-founder of Ledger) is not involved in the kidnapping rumor about him. Be careful with published information that could threaten an ongoing investigation in France and possibly someone else’s life,” Raymond claimed.

He added that “Eric is safe,” but was unable to communicate any other updates. This news did little to alleviate the community’s concerns and indeed only raised further questions.

If Larchevêque isn’t party to this kidnapping, then who is, and who would pretend to kidnap an ex-employee of Ledger?

The firm has been riddled with controversy over the last few years, but this incident takes the cake. Since Larchevêque and the original founders departed, Ledger’s new CEO received a lot of bad press over security concerns.

Also, back in 2023, the firm carried out massive layoffs. However, issues like this wouldn’t explain a fake kidnapping scandal.

Meanwhile, the story was viral enough for meme coin enthusiasts to jump in. An anonymous user launched a “Justice for Eric” meme coin on Solana, but its market cap cratered almost immediately.

Whoever launched it may be totally unrelated to the incident and only intending to do a quick rug pull. It still doesn’t answer any of the biggest lingering questions.

Ultimately, wherever Larchevêque is, or whatever reason Ledger’s name keeps coming up, this hoax highlights a growing issue in crypto. Several popular X accounts immediately began circulating this kidnapping story, even though there was no proof.

This entire episode may be more of a misunderstanding than a deliberate hoax, but it spread like wildfire all the same. The correct details of this story will only surface when Larchevêque gives an update on social media.