Ether trails rivals as Trump’s memecoin debut bolsters solana

Ethereum’s cryptocurrency keeps losing ground to rival tokens as it struggles to harness tailwinds created by President Donald Trump’s foray into a highly speculative corner of the digital-assets market.

The Ether-to-Bitcoin price ratio — which measures the performance of the second-ranked token against that of the largest — fell to its lowest level since 2021 on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while Bitcoin hit a record of $109 241. The native token of Solana, a blockchain that competes with Ethereum, reached fresh highs over the weekend.

Solana’s rally was largely fuelled by two so-called memecoins launched on its blockchain by Trump and his wife Melania in the run-up to his inauguration. Trump’s drew frenzied trading over the weekend to reach a market capitalization of $15 billion before dropping sharply, according to CoinMarketCap data. The Republican’s pro-crypto agenda has lifted most major digital assets since his November victory over Democrat Kamala Harris.

“Ether has definitely been a loser in the recent memecoin wave, as many of the largest memecoins have come about on the Solana ecosystem,” said Le Shi, Hong Kong managing director at market making firm Auros.

Memecoins, dominated by joke tokens like Dogecoin, are highly volatile cryptocurrencies with little intrinsic value that can post eye-watering gains if they capture the attention of social media users — and are prone to cratering just as quickly.

Solana, which has marketed itself as an “Ethereum killer,” has emerged as the go-to network for memecoin launches. Its token’s price ratio against Ether reached an all-time high on Sunday, as speculators piled into the Trump coins.

While records have fallen elsewhere, Ether is lingering about 30% below its 2021 peak. The token is up 39% over the past 12 months, compared with gains of 156% and 180% for Bitcoin and Solana, respectively.

Ether struggles

Comparatively muted demand for Ether has raised alarms among investors. In the past three months, a group of 12 Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US have seen a net inflow of over $17 billion, compared with just $3 billion for similar products investing in Ether, according to Bloomberg data.

“There is a perception in the market that Ether has not had any new, exciting developments, and thus has stagnated,” Shi said.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently announced plans to shake up the leadership structure of the Ethereum Foundation, with emphasis on making the network more decentralized and censorship-resistant. Buterin stressed, however, that the entity will not engage in “lobbying regulators and powerful political figures.”

Despite the buzz around Trump’s memecoins, the crypto market retraced gains as he was sworn in on Monday. He had been expected to issue an executive order designating the industry a national priority, Bloomberg News reported previously, but no directive has materialized so far.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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