HYPE gets Trump bump, no blueprint

August 20, 2026

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Americans split sharply by party over Trump crypto profits, Reuters poll finds

Key points:

  • 63% of Americans considered the Trump family’s crypto profits inappropriate.

  • Republicans largely defended the earnings, while 48% separately said Trump’s business interests influence his presidential decisions.

News - A Reuters/Ipsos poll found broad public disapproval of U.S. President Donald Trump and his family profiting from cryptocurrency, but a separate result complicated the picture inside his party: Republicans largely accepted the earnings, while 48% said his private business interests influence his decisions in office.

Overall, 63% considered the crypto profits inappropriate, compared with 32% who considered them appropriate. The partisan split was stark. Democrats rejected the profits 92% to 6%, independents opposed them 66% to 25%, and Republicans supported them 69% to 27%.

Profit concerns widen - The unease extended beyond crypto earnings. Overall, 69% believed Trump’s private ventures influence his presidential decisions, including roughly two-thirds of independents, nine in 10 Democrats, and 48% of Republicans.

Reuters reported that Trump earned more than $1.4 billion in 2025 through family cryptocurrency ventures, including World Liberty Financial and the Official Trump memecoin. Trump says he has no day-to-day role in the family business and that his investments are independently managed.

Policy meets perception - The White House rejected the allegations, with spokesperson Anna Kelly saying there were “no conflicts of interest.” The scrutiny comes as Trump promotes crypto-friendly policies and urges the Senate to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The poll measures public perception, however, and does not establish that his financial interests shaped those policies.

Conducted online from August 14 to 17, the Reuters/Ipsos survey covered 1,166 U.S. adults and carried a three-point overall margin of error.

XRP hits $1.30 as whales buy, ETF flows fade

Key points:

  • XRP reached $1.30 after an exceptional rally, while tracked whale holdings increased by more than 300 million tokens.

  • RLUSD recorded mints and burns across both ledgers, signaling supply turnover rather than one-way expansion.

News - XRP’s rally intensified after the token gained 10.40% on August 19, outperforming Bitcoin’s 7.13% rise during a marketwide short squeeze. It subsequently reached $1.30 for the first time since June 1, completing a roughly 30% rebound over a day or so after slipping below $1 last week.

The August 19 move ranked among XRP’s top 3% of trading days since 2020. However, the demand signals beneath that outperformance did not move together.

Whales move first - Santiment data cited by analyst Ali Martinez showed large holders acquiring more than 300 million XRP since the business week began. Their combined holdings increased from approximately 16.05 billion tokens on August 16 to 16.36 billion.

RLUSD supply churns - Ripple separately minted 900,000 RLUSD on the XRP Ledger on August 20. Tracker data also recorded several larger issuances, including batches of 10 million, 12 million, 20 million, and 32 million RLUSD. Meanwhile, 20 million RLUSD was burned on Ethereum before a 15.4 million treasury burn. 

The activity indicates substantial turnover, not simply unchecked supply growth, and does not establish that RLUSD issuance drove XRP’s rally.

ETF buyers hold back - XRP ETF inflows fell from $5.81 million to $2.35 million on August 19, even as Bitcoin funds drew $517 million. History adds another caution: across 14 comparable days since 2020 when Bitcoin gained at least 7% and XRP outperformed it, XRP’s median seven-day return was negative 3.84%, with only about one-third ending higher.

HYPE jumps to $72 on Trump remark. No plan yet

Key points:

  • HYPE gained more than 20% over 24 hours after Trump said the CFTC was pursuing compliant U.S. access for Hyperliquid.

  • The remark was not regulatory approval, and no formal proposal, application, or launch timeline has been disclosed.

News - HYPE jumped as President Donald Trump described a U.S. pathway before regulators published one. Trump said CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring the decentralized perpetual futures platform into the country “in a fully compliant and legal fashion.”

HYPE traded near $62 before the remarks, climbed as much as 16% to $72.28, and later settled around $70, up approximately 20% over 24 hours. Hyperliquid currently operates as an offshore venue that Americans cannot legally access.

A different endorsement? - Across Trump’s eight previous crypto endorsements, the associated tokens peaked 31% higher within 24 hours on average, turned negative within 30 days, and now sit 60% below their pre-endorsement levels on average. HYPE’s setup differs because a regulatory process is already underway: the CFTC approved U.S. perpetual futures in May, while Hyperliquid and Phantom petitioned for DeFi-specific rules in July.

Whether that difference changes the outcome remains unproven. Neither the CFTC nor Hyperliquid has explained how U.S. access would work or confirmed that an access application exists.

Another market move - Hyperliquid Strategies, an independent Nasdaq-listed HYPE treasury company, closed 30.4% higher. Roughly four hours before Trump spoke, an unidentified buyer reportedly spent about $65,000 on 719 call options. Those contracts were quoted near $176,000 by the close, creating an unrealized gain of approximately $111,000.

Public data neither identifies the buyer nor establishes that the trade involved material nonpublic information.

USDC may enter X creator payouts as stablecoins spread

Key points:

  • X is reportedly discussing USDC for cross-border creator royalties.

  • SpaceX uses stablecoins for Starlink collections, while Meta pays select creators in USDC on Solana and Polygon.

News - Stablecoins could move from Musk’s satellite business to his social platform. X is reportedly exploring whether Circle’s USDC could carry payments to creators worldwide, according to one person familiar with the ongoing discussions.

A rollout would place X inside a broader shift toward stablecoins as payment infrastructure, but no implementation has been confirmed.

Why this rail fits - Stablecoins exceed $300 billion in combined market capitalization and increasingly move money across borders faster and potentially more cheaply than traditional banking rails. For a platform paying creators across multiple jurisdictions, that utility could reduce friction around smaller, recurring international payouts.

Musk has a template - SpaceX already collects some cross-border Starlink payments through stablecoins, converting customer payments into stable assets before eventually returning them to U.S. dollars. X would not be alone among social platforms. Meta has begun paying select creators in USDC through Solana and Polygon.

Those precedents demonstrate an existing use case, not proof that X has selected the same model.

The confirmed opening - X is phasing out Revenue Sharing and introducing an Original Content Rewards Program for original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary. That overhaul could provide a new payout structure, but the stablecoin component rests on a single unnamed source.

X has not confirmed the talks or announced a chosen asset, Circle agreement, processor, or launch timeline. Whether creators could retain bank payouts also remains unclear.

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Interesting facts

  • A Brooklyn spa discovered that Bitcoin miners make surprisingly effective hot-tub heaters: At Bathhouse’s Williamsburg location, mining rigs are immersed in nonconductive oil and their waste heat is routed into hot tubs and hammams. MIT Technology Review reported in 2025 that six miners can keep one hot tub at 104°F.

  • The Central African Republic tried selling citizenship through crypto, until its top court said nationality had no price: In 2022, the government’s Sango Coin initiative offered foreign investors citizenship for $60,000 in crypto, e-residency for $6,000, and land for $10,000. The Constitutional Court ruled the purchases unconstitutional, reasoning in part that nationality had no market value and residency required physical presence in the country.

  • For a brief moment, Parisians could buy Bitcoin where they bought cigarettes and lottery tickets: In January 2019, six licensed tobacco shops in and around Paris began selling cash-purchased vouchers redeemable for Bitcoin through French fintech Keplerk, bringing crypto acquisition into France’s neighborhood “tabac” culture.

The SpaceX Insiders Bought Years Ago.

The insiders who got rich on SpaceX bought years before the IPO. You can't go back — but you can get in early on the next wave. Our analyst found 3 stocks set to ride the space boom from the ground floor.

Top 3 coins of the day

XRP (XRP)

Key points:

  • XRP’s Madrid Ribbon flipped from a prolonged bearish structure into a sharply expanding bullish formation as price surged above $1.20.

  • Squeeze Momentum accelerated to +0.0873 alongside a major volume expansion, while $1.24-$1.25 emerged as the first resistance test.

What you should know:

XRP’s latest move looked less like a routine rebound and more like a sudden regime change. Trump’s White House crypto event, where he urged Congress to advance the CLARITY Act alongside industry executives including Ripple leadership, coincided with Ripple completing a $275 million senior unsecured bond issuance. Against that backdrop, XRP surged to $1.22 as the Madrid Ribbon flipped green and fanned sharply upward. Squeeze Momentum climbed to +0.0873, while breakout volume expanded dramatically from the prior lull. $1.24-$1.25 is the immediate resistance zone, while $1.18-$1.20 is the first support area to monitor. The highest ribbon line at $1.15 provides a deeper dynamic support reference.

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Key points:

  • DOGE’s 9-period MA pulled decisively above the 21-period MA after weeks of repeated crossings, finally resolving the prior sideways structure.

  • Squeeze Momentum expanded to +0.00347 as breakout volume surged, while price pushed as high as $0.07858.

What you should know:

Weeks of indecision around $0.07000 finally broke in buyers’ favor. DOGE’s 9-period MA climbed to $0.07404 above the 21-period MA at $0.07185, opening a clear bullish spread after repeated crossings during the prior range. Larger wallets reportedly accumulated about 680 million DOGE worth roughly $48 million ahead of the breakout, adding a specific demand-side backdrop to the move. Price then accelerated to $0.07827 as volume expanded sharply and Squeeze Momentum reached +0.00347, with its positive bars still growing. $0.07850-$0.07900 is the immediate resistance zone, while $0.07650-$0.07700 is the first support area to hold. A deeper retreat brings the $0.07400-$0.07500 breakout area back into focus.

Polkadot (DOT)

Key points:

  • DOT’s rebound from roughly $0.73 gained credibility as volume expanded and price reclaimed the entire Madrid Ribbon.

  • EWO surged to +4.256 while the ribbon flipped green, turning an initial relief bounce into a stronger challenge to the prior downtrend.

What you should know:

DOT’s August 18 reversal became more important with every candle that followed. Volume expanded around the roughly $0.73 low, and the recovery subsequently carried price above the entire Madrid Ribbon to $0.83. The ribbon flipped green and began fanning upward, while EWO accelerated to +4.256 with its positive bars still expanding. That shifted the focus from whether DOT could bounce to whether the recovery could survive its next retest. Polkadot’s ongoing Agile Coretime transition, which replaces rigid parachain slot auctions with more flexible blockspace purchasing, provides the clearest project-specific backdrop. $0.80-$0.81 is the first support zone to hold, while $0.84-$0.85 and $0.86-$0.87 are the resistance areas to watch.

Markets move. Headlines catastrophize. Inside the noise is the story that matters — the opportunity, not the fear. The Daily Upside: global business and finance, reported without the alarm.

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