MoonPay's Trump Token Surge: $100M Loan Scramble Averts Crisis

MoonPay, a traditional financial platform, found itself in a precarious situation when it handled the launch of the TRUMP token, the first cryptocurrency linked to a U.S. president. The token's value skyrocketed from $200 million to over $10 billion in just 48 hours, with trading volume surpassing $20 billion and major exchanges rushing to list it.

However, MoonPay faced a significant challenge: it lacked sufficient cash to support the sudden surge in trading activity. With banks closed on the weekend and a public holiday on Monday for Trump's swearing-in, MoonPay needed to raise more than $100 million quickly to prevent the launch from failing. In a desperate move, MoonPay turned to two major crypto companies, Galaxy Digital and Ripple, for emergency loans.

MoonPay's leaders, including President Keith Grossman, CEO Ivan Soto-Wright, and CFO Mouna Siala, secured a $100 million loan from Galaxy Digital after proving their ability to repay. However, the demand for the token continued to grow, and MoonPay found itself in need of an additional $60 million. Grossman contacted Ripple's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, who agreed to help after checking MoonPay's financial health and securing a guarantee from Soto-Wright.

By Tuesday, January 21, MoonPay could access its reserve funds again and repaid both loans in full, avoiding any major financial trouble. The TRUMP token launch brought massive growth to MoonPay, with the company gaining 750,000 new users in just one week.

Despite its initial success, the TRUMP token's price has since dropped by 79% since January 19, indicating that the hype surrounding the memecoin has faded. Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, filed complaints against the digital token with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), further impacting the market sentiment and contributing to the token's price decline.