14-6-2025 – A cadre of small-cap companies listed on Nasdaq has sparked intrigue and suspicion with bold declarations of intent to amass substantial holdings in cryptocurrencies such as XRP and Solana, according to a June 14 report by BlockBeats. These firms, including Trident Digital Tech and Addentax Group Corp—each with market capitalisations below $16 million—have no apparent ties to the crypto sector, raising red flags among analysts who fear these moves may be orchestrated to manipulate stock prices.
Scepticism abounds in the industry, with experts like Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets, sounding the alarm over potential “pump and dump” schemes. Sigel, in a pointed critique, suggested that these announcements could be ploys by insiders to artificially inflate share values, warning, “When market caps are this small and no new investors are named, it’s hard to see this as anything but a scam.” The absence of concrete evidence—such as visible capital deployment or investor backing—further fuels doubts about the legitimacy of these ambitious plans. Observers note that similar announcements from small-cap firms in the past have often led to fleeting stock price surges, only for gains to evaporate when promised crypto purchases failed to materialise.
Despite the fanfare, the targeted cryptocurrencies, XRP and Solana, have shown little direct impact from these claims. XRP, for instance, continues to trade at $2.14, holding a market dominance of 3.84% with a capitalisation of roughly $126.11 billion, as per CoinMarketCap data from June 14, 2025. While the token enjoyed a modest 2.33% price uptick over the past 24 hours, it has dipped 1.24% over the week, driven by broader market trends rather than any verifiable on-chain activity tied to these corporate pledges. The silence from the XRP and Solana projects themselves underscores the disconnect between the companies’ rhetoric and tangible market effects.
Analysts urge caution, pointing to the lack of transparency and the questionable feasibility of these acquisition plans. The crypto community remains wary, with the spectre of market manipulation looming large.
