Crypto Market Gains After Trump's Executive Order on 401k Retirement Plans & Ripple Labs Appeal Drop

Cryptocurrency Market Gains as Trump Approves New Executive Order

The world of cryptocurrency enjoyed a small boost on Friday, August 8, in the wake of a recent decision by President Donald Trump. In keeping with anticipations, the President officially signed an executive order which permits the inclusion of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, in 401(k) retirement plans. This move, coupled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to abandon its appeals in the case against Ripple Labs, injected a spark into the crypto world. Among the high-cap cryptocurrencies, Ethereum (ETH) emerged as the star performer. The digital currency breached the $4,000-mark for the first time since December 2024 earlier that day. Although it hasn’t been able to maintain this peak, having fallen back slightly to $3,966, it still marked a daily increase of over 3.5%.

Ethereum Rally

The ETH rally was largely attributed to the revelation that public treasury firm Fundamental Global had filed a $5 billion shelf registration with the SEC. If fully directed towards Ethereum, this colossal sum would far exceed all current publicly disclosed Ethereum treasuries. Ethereum’s weekly growth has been impressive, with gains estimated at 9.5% – the highest among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap. On the other hand, Bitcoin (BTC) has remained steady, peaking at $117,200 before falling back to $116,145, thereby ending flat over the last 24 hours, as well as the week.

Solana and XRP Gain

Following this development, Solana (SOL) observed a near 4% surge to $175.75. Meanwhile, XRP gained the most among the large-cap cryptocurrencies within 24 hours, soaring by 6.7% to $3.24. This growth spurt came on the back of news that the SEC and Ripple were ending their appeals in the Second Circuit. Thus marking the end of their five-year-long legal feud. This in conjunction with Ripple’s recent acquisition of stablecoin platform Rail for $200 million has led to this upsurge.

Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization

The cryptocurrency market capitalization saw a 1.2% rise over the last 24 hours, reaching a total of over $3.93 trillion according to CoinGecko. The trading volume during this same 24-hour period reached $154 billion. Over the course of the previous 24 hours, cryptocurrency positions worth around $300 million were liquidated. This includes $213 million in shorts and $85 million in longs. Ethereum led the liquidation, with $114 million, followed by XRP and BTC.

Impact of Executive Order on Crypto ETFs

The day also saw spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) record over $280 million in net inflows. This marked the second consecutive day of net inflows after four days of outflows, and was also the highest daily net inflows into spot BTC ETFs since July 18. Similarly, Ethereum ETFs mirrored this trend by drawing in $222 million in net inflows.

New Executive Order: A Boost for Mainstream Crypto Adoption

The new executive order signed by President Trump on August 7, expanding 401(k) plans to include cryptocurrencies, private equity, and alternative assets, is seen by experts as a critical move towards mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. Ira Auerbach, former head of digital assets at Nasdaq, believes that allowing Americans to allocate even just 1% of their $12 trillion 401(k) savings into digital assets marks a turning point. It could attract U.S. asset managers to create compliant crypto funds instead of having to launch them offshore. This decision could indeed marry legacy retirement savings with on-chain technology, which would be a game-changer for digital assets.

Crypto Market Gains After Trump’s Executive Order on 401k Retirement Plans & Ripple Labs Appeal Drop