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Bitcoin rose to over $109,000 early Monday – a new all-time high in early European trading – hours before self-proclaimed ‘crypto President’ Donald Trump was set to take office for a second term.
Bitcoin has surged in price since Trump’s victory, topping $100,000 for the first time last month before briefly sliding down to about $90,000.
On Friday, it rose about 5 per cent, before jumping more than $9,000 early Monday, according to CoinDesk. Two years ago, bitcoin was trading at about $20,000.
The crypto market overall was up by more than half a trillion dollars over the last week, reaching a new record high of $3.74 trillion on Monday.
The incoming President and his wife Melania have both launched their own cryptocurrencies amid the market-wide surge.
Trump announced his currency on Friday while his wife shared news of hers last night. ‘The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now,’ the incoming First Lady posted to X as the website for her crypto asset opened.
Both coins have seen dramatic rises but also a volatile trade. Just hours after Melania’s digital currency went live, her husband’s crashed more than 40 per cent, Forbes reports, diving as traders rushed to buy the new coin instead.
The price of Bitcoin rose to over $109,000 early Monday – a new all-time high in early European trading (seen later in the morning)
$MELANIA was trading at around $12.03, with a market cap of $1.9 billion, at 08.20 GMT on Monday, according to CoinMarketCap.
Meanwhile Trump’s meme coin surged to $58.56, giving it a market capitalisaton of about $11.7 billion, according to the website. This saw it ranked as the 18th biggest cryptocurrency, and its 24-hour trading volume reached $52.5 billion.
The Trump coin image shows the incoming President with his fist raised and the slogan ‘FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT’ – invoking his famous reaction when an assassination attempt was made on him back in July.
The picture attached to Melania’s currency shows the incoming First Lady beaming with her hands together in front of her face in a black and white portrait.
Previously a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin ‘seems like a scam,’ Trump has since embraced digital currencies and promised to be a ‘crypto president’ when he enters the White House.
He vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the US into the ‘crypto capital’ of the world.
His promises include creating a US crypto stockpile, enacting industry-friendly regulation and appointing a crypto ‘czar’ for his administration, with a series of executive orders expected to be issued to reduce regulatory roadblocks.
‘You’re going to be very happy with me,’ Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a bitcoin conference last summer.
Bitcoin is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and was created in 2009 as a kind of electronic cash uncontrolled by banks or governments.
It and newer forms of cryptocurrencies have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in wild fits and starts.
Dogecoin, which has been promoted by Trump ally Elon Musk as he is set to take on a presidential advisory role in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is among a number of currencies which have risen sharply this year.
Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville during his presidential campaign back in July
The highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies as well as their use by criminals, scammers and rogue nations, has attracted plenty of critics, who say the digital currencies have limited utility and often are just Ponzi schemes.
But crypto has so far defied naysayers and survived multiple prolonged price drops in its short lifespan.
Wealthy players in the crypto industry, which felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win last November’s election.
Trump’s picks for key cabinet and regulatory positions are stocked with crypto supporters, including his choice to lead the Treasury and Commerce departments and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Key industry players held a first ever ‘Crypto Ball’ on Friday to celebrate the first ‘crypto president.’ The event was sold out, with tickets costing several thousand dollars.
Trump’s expanding his cryptocurrency interests that already include World Liberty Financial.
Dogecoin, which has been promoted by Trump ally Elon Musk, is among a number of currencies which have risen sharply this year
Of the total number of $TRUMP tokens, 80 per cent are owned by CIC Digital LLC, which is an affiliate of Trump’s business The Trump Organization, and another business called Fight Fight Fight LLC, the website says.
Disclaimers on the websites for Donald and Melania Trumps’ coins say they are ‘not intended to be, or the subject of’ an investment opportunity or a security.
Additionally, the official sites for them are described as being ‘not political’ and having ‘nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency.’
Crypto experts expressed surprise and concern over the launch of the Trumps’ meme coins.
The price of Bitcoin rose to over $109,000 early Monday – a new all-time high in early European trading
‘While it’s tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump spectacle, the launch of the official Trump token opens up a Pandora’s box of ethical and regulatory questions,’ said Justin D’Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.
While the coin represented a blending of the world of decentralised finance (DeFi) into the political arena, it also ‘blurs the lines between governance, profit, and influence,’ D’Anethan said.
Nigel Green, CEO of wealth management advisory firm deVere Group told the Independent that the Trumps’ venture is part of ‘a revival of the meme coin trend we saw in 2021 and 2022, where many young, inexperienced investors got burned by extreme volatility.’
‘Without doubt, investors will get burned by this frenzy too,’ he said.
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