Ethereum soared from around $2,300 to over $2,900 in less than 24 hours, capping a wild ride three-day performance for the second most popular blockchain amid volatile crypto markets. The currency’s latest roller-coaster ride also coincides with ongoing drama among various Ethereum factions, and speculation among some in the crypto industry that the token is ceding ground to rival Solana.
The current Ethereum rally came after the currency fell sharply, and then began climbing on Sunday night to rise over 25% by Monday afternoon and recoup all its recent losses. The latter part of the rally was fueled in part by a tweet on X by President Donald Trump’s son Eric. Referring to the currency’s common ticker symbol along with a dollar sign, he wrote, “In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH.”
Trump’s choice of words was somewhat cryptic as it is unclear whether his recommendation to “add” Ethereum was directed at investors in general, or if it also implied the digital currency should have a role in the country’s larger strategic calculations.
In recent weeks, there have been ongoing rumors that the U.S. is set to launch a strategic Bitcoin reserve and, on Monday, President Trump signed an executive action to create a sovereign wealth fund for the country. Neither the president nor senior White House officials appear to have designated Ethereum as a priority for either of these initiatives.
The Trump family, however, does have a vested interest in Ethereum in the form of World Liberty Financial, a new decentralized finance (DeFi) project backed by the president that has significant cryptocurrency holdings. A report by The Block on Monday stated that World Liberty’s treasury is primarily made up of Ethereum and a derivative version of Bitcoin.
Crypto industry sources have also stated on X that World Liberty has been accumulating Ethereum for some time:
Fortune has not independently confirmed the extent of World Liberty’s Ethereum holdings, though it is worth noting that crypto assets are far easier to trace than conventional ones thanks to the tamperproof ledger created by blockchains. The Trump Organization, which is headed by the president’s sons, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The February rally comes at a contentious time for Ethereum. Even though the currency has notched large gains along with the rest of the crypto market, its market cap has not grown as quickly as other major currencies like Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana. At the same time, the community of developers who oversee the blockchain’s development have been fighting over the project’s future amid claims it is lacking leadership and has failed to evolve quickly enough.
Ethereum, which is more versatile than Bitcoin thanks to smart contracts, is the brainchild of computer science genius Vitalik Buterin, who wrote a white paper outlining its key ideas in late 2013. The main blockchain then went live in 2015.