MoonPay Taps $160M in Emergency Loans from Ripple, Galaxy Amid Trump Memecoin Mania
When Donald Trump’s official memecoin, TRUMP, launched unexpectedly on Jan. 18, it set off a trading frenzy that sent its market cap soaring from $200 million to over $10 billion in just two days. But behind the scenes, crypto payments provider MoonPay faced a critical liquidity crunch, forcing it to secure $160 million in emergency funding from Ripple and Galaxy Digital to keep up with demand, according to a newly revealed podcast.
MoonPay, the exclusive crypto payments provider for the Moonshot platform—where TRUMP debuted—was caught off guard by the overwhelming trading volumes, which exceeded $20 billion across spot and futures markets within 48 hours. Complicating matters, the launch took place on a Saturday, meaning MoonPay’s fiat accounts were inaccessible for the entire weekend, with a public holiday delaying access to funds until Tuesday.
With over $100 million in liquidity needed immediately, MoonPay executives, including President Keith Grossman and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright, reached out to Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz for an urgent USDC loan. After a rapid due diligence process involving BlackRock, Novogratz agreed to provide the funds.
However, demand for TRUMP continued to surge, fueled further by the surprise release of MELANIA, a separate memecoin linked to First Lady Melania Trump. The initial loan was no longer sufficient, forcing MoonPay to seek an additional $60 million. Grossman then turned to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, acknowledging they had severely underestimated the scale of demand.
Ripple agreed to provide the additional capital, but only after securing personal asset guarantees from Soto-Wright and verifying that MoonPay’s reserve funds were free of liens.
By Jan. 21, as soon as MoonPay regained access to its fiat accounts, it repaid both loans in full. The company also recorded a historic surge in signups, onboarding 750,000 new users within the week.
Despite its explosive start, TRUMP has since lost momentum, with its price down 79% from its Jan. 19 peak.
