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Riding the waves of the crypto markets, and leading up to his inauguration, the incoming US President Donald Trump last week unveiled his own cryptocurrency, which sold for billions of dollars.
ADVERTISEMENTThe world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, hit a new all-time high on Monday morning, surpassing $109,900 (€106,485), while incoming US President Trump saw his own meme coin being sold for billions of dollars in just two days, as the cryptocurrency market buzzed with hopes for the 47th US President’s crypto-friendly policies.
“The cryptocurrency market witnessed a significant surge in volatility, reaching an all-time high of $3.72tn (€3.63tn) in total capitalisation on Monday morning,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, the FxPro chief market analyst in his written commentary, adding that he expects further gains boosted by market enthusiasm towards crypto assets.
Bitcoin has been climbing ever since Trump was elected and surged from around $70,000 (€67,825) at the beginning of November to beyond $100,000 (€96,893) in two months.
Trump family’s meme coins yielded billions over the weekend
The then President-elect launched his own meme-coin on Friday. The token dubbed $Trump was priced at around $6 (€5.81) but surged to as high as $75.35 (€73.01). About 80% of these coins are held by CIC Digital LLC, which is directly linked to the Trump family business.
Its success was slightly diminished when another meme coin appeared on Sunday, as incoming First Lady Melania Trump followed suit with her launch of $MELANIA. The price of the latter doubled, gaining a more-than $2bn (€1.9bn) market capitalisation for the coin.
The total value of Trump’s token reached more than $14bn (€13.6bn) over the weekend, before falling to some $10bn (€9.7bn) by Monday morning, according to CoinMarketCap.
The launch of the meme coins sparked criticism that Donald Trump is taking financial advantage of his political position.
Trump, the ‘crypto president’
Once a sceptic who said some years ago that bitcoin “seems like a scam”, Trump has embraced digital currencies with a convert’s zeal. He’s launched a new cryptocurrency venture and 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 included creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and enacting industry-friendly regulations.
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.
“You’re going to be very happy with me”, Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a Bitcoin conference last summer.
Key industry players were throwing a first-ever “Crypto Ball” Friday evening, which promised on its website to include “an elite lineup of musical entertainment” to celebrate the first “crypto president”. The event is sold out, with tickets costing several thousand dollars.
