Stablecoin issuer Circle has introduced a new feature called Circle Paymaster, enabling users to pay gas fees using the USDC stablecoin.

The USDC (USDC) issuer said in an announcement that the on-chain utility solution Circle Paymaster was now live on Arbitrum and Base, two leading Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 solutions. 

With this product, users on the L2s can now use USDC rather than ETH when paying for transaction fees.

In the crypto market, blockchain users need transaction fees often paid via a chain’s native token. This gas fees requirement has typically meant users must hold tokens such as Ether and others on-chain, with transaction failures likely when one has no funds to cover gas fees.

Paymaster removes this challenge by allowing users to pay with USDC, removing the need for one to have the required native token.‍ The feature is permissionless and composable, which means developers can work with any wallet compatible with the ERC-4337 token standard.

Circle’s launch of Paymaster adds to the company’s Gas Station offering.

While Paymaster users utilize their USDC to pay for gas fees, Gas Station allows developers to pay for gas costs for users. Developers who sign up for the Gas Station feature offer a gasless experience for users across their decentralized applications. 

Gas Station works with Circle’s programmable wallets and requires developers to create a Circle Console account.

Circle will expand access to Paymaster beyond Arbitrum and Base in coming months, with additional networks including Ethereum, Solana and Polygon PoS.

Transaction charges across Paymaster will be 10% of gas fees per transaction. However, Circle is waiving this charge until June 30, 2025 to incentivize adoption.

US President Donald Trump’s surprising launch of the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin fueled a frenzy as fans and day traders pushed billions of dollars in trading volume. A day later, First Lady Melania Trump joined the trend with her own meme coin, Official Melania (MELANIA), which added to the cryptocurrency craze.

But the result was damaging. Both the meme coins crashed soon. In fact, TRUMP and MELANIA coins were still down by over 50% and 80% since their peaks, respectively.

TRUMP, MELANIA On-Chain Activity

Recent findings from Chainalysis reveal a sharp contrast in the distribution and profitability of TRUMP and MELANIA token holders. While the majority of wallets containing TRUMP are retail buyers with small holdings, a select group of whales has seen significant gains. Approximately 50 wallets have realized profits of more than $10 million at the wallet level, which essentially depicted the outsized influence of these early or high-volume investors.

On-chain data from Chainalysis Reactor shows that after the minting of 1 billion TRUMP tokens, four wallets received the majority of the supply. This stash was either for direct holding or to provide liquidity on exchanges. Despite the concentrated distributions, the broader holder base largely consists of retail investors.

As of January 21, most wallets holding TRUMP or MELANIA contained less than $100 in tokens, which is indicative of widespread but modest retail interest. Over 80% of these investors hold under $1,000 in assets on the Solana blockchain, and half are new to Solana altcoins, creating wallets specifically to purchase TRUMP or MELANIA.

While retail participation is high, profits remain modest for most. Over 77% of wallets holding TRUMP have realized gains of less than $100. However, the dominance of whales continues, with 40 wallets holding over $10 million in TRUMP or MELANIA tokens, accounting for 94% of the total supply.

Increased Scrutiny

Despite the popularity of the two tokens, the move by the President and his wife has attracted significant criticism.

James Thurber, the founder and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, accused Trump of using his pro-cryptocurrency advocacy as a personal profit-making strategy. In a statement to the Guardian, Thurber said,

“There are shameful and major conflicts of interest with respect to his family business benefiting from his cryptocurrency policies. (Trump) does not seem to worry about the public interest with respect to cryptocurrency. He seems to be driven by profit and wanting to be a major part of the billionaire class in the US.”

Meanwhile, FinTAX’s comprehensive analysis observed that there are legal, tax, and political risks for the TRUMP meme coin. Key concerns include SEC regulatory scrutiny (using the Howey Test), tax compliance challenges with 80% token ownership, and potential political finance violations. Risks include possible security classification, tax complications from token unlocking, and potential disruption of political donation norms.

Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana have held their support levels even when the global crypto market fell by 1.7%, now sitting at a market cap of $3.5T.

Bitcoin ETFs have seen four consecutive inflow days led by BlackRock. The investment giant has gobbled up $3.2B worth of BTC. CEO Larry Fink suggests that BTC can reach $700,000 if funds increase allocation to 5% from 2%.

This ETF influx stems from the hopes of Solana ETF getting approvals in 2025. Market data suggests a 97% probability of that happening, too. Solana has also seen a significant surge since 15th January. It currently stands at 34% gains from the lows of $181.88 on 14th Jan.

During this time, it reached a high of $295.83, gaining almost 60% in 5 days. The price has since stabilized at around $240.

XRP also saw a similar price boost as it rose from $2.3545 on January 1 to a high of $3.4 on 16th Jan – a gain of almost 62%. XRP’s price has also since been steady and is now trading at around $3.0886.

Ever since Trump won the presidential elections, the crypto market has seen quite a significant boom. Bitcoin reached an all-time high, crossing the $109,000 mark.

Trump’s pro-crypto approach and promises to bring in crypto-friendly legislation have kept the hopes of crypto enthusiasts high.

There are already early signs of that happening. For instance, Trump’s decision to pardon Ross Ulbricht is being viewed as good news for privacy-preserving technology advancement in the crypto field.

The launch of $TRUMP, the US president’s official meme coin, has also drawn the attention of investors. Soon after its launch last week, $TRUMP quickly shot up by over 12,000% overnight.

With the influx of various projects, the meme coin market looks bullish for the next year. If you’re looking to ride this upcoming bull run, we’ve got a project you can invest in – Solaxy ($SOLX).

What is Solaxy?

Solaxy ($SOLX) is Solana’s first Layer-2 solution that looks to solve the issues of failed transactions, congestion, and scalability bottlenecks in the Solana Layer-1 chains.

With time, Solana has become slow as the traffic has increased, leading to longer wait times. Solaxy looks to solve this through bundling transactions.

Another unique thing about $SOLX is that it’s a one-of-a-kind multi-chain solution that works on both Solana and Ethereum networks.

This way, $SOLX combines the best of both networks – Ethereum’s liquidity and Solana’s transaction speeds, easily making it one of the best meme coins.

Having already raised over $13M, the $SOLX presale is off to a flier; here’s a guide on how to buy $SOLX if you want to grab some for $0.001612 per token. The next price increase is set to take place within 2 days from now.

So, this is the lowest you may get $SOLX for — a coin that could potentially make you a crypto millionaire in 2025.

Why Can Solaxy Be the Next 100X Meme Coin?

For starters, Solaxy isn’t just another hype-based meme coin. It solves a very important issue faced by crypto investors.

By sharing the burden of Solana 1 layer, it batch processes transactions, leading to lower costs and quick turnaround time. This utility puts it in a unique position, making it one of the hottest meme coin presales in January.

Also, a new Bitwise report has predicted that the price of Solana ($SOL) can reach $6,636 by 2030 – a massive 3,000% increase. The same report states that Solana’s Layer 1 is far more efficient than the Layer 2 Ethereum chain.

Going by the indications, if Solana is able to draw a price prediction this huge, Solaxy soaring by 100x doesn’t look a far stretch.

With 30% of the token supply reserved for development and 10% for listing, the developers have shown signs of long-term commitment.

Solaxy’s official X page currently has 62.5K followers, which is in line with its aim of building a strong investor community. If you’re looking to take advantage of the crypto and meme coin bull run that’s to come, buy $SOLX now from its official website.

However, please note that investments in crypto assets are subject to market conditions. It’s important to do your own research and only consider the above as our well-calculated opinion (and not financial advice).

President Donald Trump emphasized U.S. leadership in cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence as Senator Cynthia Lummis was sworn in as chair of the Senate’s new digital assets subcommittee.

During the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, President Donald Trump said in a virtual speech the United States would lead in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. In his address, Trump emphasized the need for the U.S. to dominate emerging technologies, including blockchain and crypto.

President Trump told the WEF that he wants America to be “the world capital of AI and crypto.”

The meme coin hype is cooling after Donald Trump’s inauguration celebrations.

Over the past 24 hours, big names like DOGE, PEPE, and SHIB have taken a nosedive.

But while most meme coins are selling off, one project continues to impress – Wall Street Pepe (WEPE).

Its ICO has passed $57 million in early contributions, setting the stage for a highly-anticipated exchange debut in just over three weeks.

Meme Coin Market Sees Major Correction as Trading Volumes Plummet

Nearly every major meme coin is in the red right now.

What started as minor profit-taking has snowballed into a broader sell-off, dragging the meme coin sector’s market cap back to $102 billion.

Meanwhile, trading volumes have dropped by more than 50% since yesterday.

Tokens that were rallying earlier in the week are now feeling the heat.

SHIB is down 2%, DOGE has dropped 4%, and TRUMP coin – last weekend’s breakout star – has plunged 14%.

But the biggest loser is AI16Z, down 25% in the past 24 hours.

The only real standout was PENGU – managing to post a small gain.

This kind of pattern is nothing new in the meme coin space, where sharp corrections often follow massive rallies.

Still, not everyone is spooked by the price action.

Well-known meme coin trader Murad called the sell-off an “opportunity of a lifetime” for those willing to stomach the volatility.

Crypto Market Sells Off While Bitcoin ETF Inflows Drop

The broader crypto market is also showing some cracks.

Bitcoin has slipped to $101,800, Ethereum is down to $3,200, and XRP has dropped to $3.

LINK took the biggest hit among the top altcoins, falling 6% since yesterday.

Things are clearly cooling off – and total spot trading volumes have slumped 16%, with open interest also dropping.

At the same time, demand for the spot Bitcoin ETFs is fading slightly.

Total inflows dropped 69% yesterday to $248 million, and BlackRock’s IBIT fund was the only one to see meaningful gains.

GBTC led the way in terms of outflows with $47 million.

Some analysts believe this is a “sell the news” moment, claiming Trump’s inauguration buzz was already priced into the market.

The optimism around this colossal event may have already run its course.

However, things change fast in crypto – so even though the market is red today, it could quickly flip green tomorrow.

Wall Street Pepe ICO Passes $57M Despite Market Downturn – Next Big Meme Coin Opportunity?

Wall Street Pepe’s ICO is defying all this bearishness.

The project has now raised over $57 million, and more than $1 million is coming in daily – even as the broader market sells off.

With the ICO running until February 16, Wall Street Pepe’s momentum does not show signs of stopping.

So, why all the hype?

For starters, the project has positioned itself as an aid for retail traders, targeting the dominance of crypto whales in the meme coin space.

That approach is hitting home, as evidenced by Wall Street Pepe’s Telegram channel reaching 17,300 subscribers.

The project’s Twitter following has also exploded recently.

Wall Street Pepe’s team will give WEPE holders access to market insights, trading tools, and real-time signals.

They’ll also host trading competitions where the winners receive WEPE prizes.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s even a built-in staking app for WEPE, offering higher yields than most crypto staking coins.

Big-name YouTubers have praised the project’s setup.

For example, NASS CRYPTO released a video about Wall Street Pepe last month, which has been viewed over 86,000 times.

Given that he has more than one million YouTube subscribers, his endorsement has given the project a massive boost.

So, with 24 days left in its ICO, things are looking positive for Wall Street Pepe.

Despite the ongoing meme coin sell-off, WEPE seems to be holding up quite well.

Visit Wall Street Pepe ICO

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Following Bitwise’s and Rex Shares’ recent application for spot Dogecoin ETFs in the United States, crypto analyst Ali Martinez has provided a technical outlook suggesting Dogecoin (DOGE) could ascend to $15. His analysis, detailed in a logarithmic chart spanning from 2017 to 2025, captures a massive ascending channel that highlights the potential upward trajectory for DOGE.

Dogecoin Targets $15

Martinez’s chart delineates a long-term ascending channel where Dogecoin’s price action is bounded by a structure consisting of three parallel trendlines. The lowest of these lines has consistently served as a firm support since 2017, aiding the price to stabilize during significant downturns, notably in early 2019 and again in mid-2022. The median line of the channel, which presently hovers around $0.40 to $0.45, has just been tested by DOGE as it recently surged to this level, marking a critical inflection point that was last touched in early 2022.

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The upper boundary of the channel, which is the focus of Martinez’s bullish forecast, is projected to climb well above $10, touching as high as $15 by late 2025. This top trendline is not just a theoretical limit but has proven to be the bull run top twice for the Dogecoin price, once in January 2018 and then in May 2021. At the last all-time high in May 2021, Doge even significantly exceeded the channel.

Martinez’s prediction highlights the spot Dogecoin ETFs as potential market catalysts. He suggests that the approval and launch of such financial products could channel fresh institutional and retail investment into DOGE, propelling it towards these higher valuations.

In trading terms, the current position of DOGE below the median line is pivotal. This price level has historically acted as a springboard for upward movement when sustained buying pressure is present. Should DOGE maintain its footing above this zone, the pathway to higher resistance levels around $1.00, and potentially the channel’s upper echelon near $15, appears technically feasible.

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Notably, the spot Doge ETFs could hit the market as early as April, according to Bloomberg’s ETF specialist Eric Balchunas. Bitwise officially lodged the application to register a Dogecoin ETF on Wednesday.

The company submitted its proposal, named the “Bitwise Dogecoin ETF,” to the Delaware Division of Corporations, which is part of the U.S. Department of State. Although such registrations can occasionally be misleading, Balchunas confirmed via X: “Bitwise Doge ETF likely coming soon.. and yes I checked and this is def legit (vs some whack job committing forgery for a quick pump a la BlackRock XRP that one time).”

Registering in Delaware represents an initial step before advancing to a formal ETF submission with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This registration process sets up the legal structure that would manage the proposed ETF but does not constitute a direct application for SEC approval.

This initiative follows an earlier application by investment firms Rex Shares and Osprey Funds, both of which have also filed applications for multiple cryptocurrency ETFs, including one focused on Dogecoin.

At press time, DOGE traded at $0.34.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com