Crypto market buoyant as Trump executive order expected

13:37 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Despite no crypto-related executive orders yesterday, the head of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges believes there will be some “imminently”.

Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said he expects a bitcoin strategic reserve announcement, as well as the repeal of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule that punishes banks for holding cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets.

“That’s something I think to watch closely in terms of EOs (executive orders),” Allaire said during an interview with Reuters at this week’s World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. “I’m strongly in favour of repealing it and I would hope that President Trump would take that action… We expect Committee work to be very active, literally in the coming weeks.”

12:28 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Donald Trump’s return to the White House was eagerly awaited by some sections of the crypto space, with hopes that he would deliver on his pledge to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”.

It’s been nearly 24 hours since he took office, and despite a flurry of executive orders, no action has been made relating to bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.

There’s still plenty of time, however, so what might we expect over the coming days and weeks?

We’ve heard from a few experts:

With continued adoption amplified by macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainty, short-term sentiments and market speculations, I expect bitcoin’s price to stay volatile with a general upward trend in the next 12 months, going as low as $70k, or as high as $150k. But over the next 3-4 years, I see a good chance to realise a $400-$500k price range for the ‘digital gold.

Hong Fang, president of crypto exchange OKX

[Trump’s] long-term impact on the trajectory of the sector will be defined by the policies he rolls out, not his rhetoric. The potential creation of a new crypto policy council is an interesting first move, and in his first 100 days, expect to see plenty of current legislation come under scrutiny and reform, such as the SEC’s SAB 121, which has created compliance roadblocks and discouraged banks from expanding their crypto product offerings.

Anil Oncu, co-founder and CEO, Bitpace

There has been discussion and speculation around the adoption of bitcoin to the US Strategic Reserve, as well as the potential creation of a crypto advisory council to champion the industry’s priorities.

Philippe Bekhazi, co-founder and CEO, XBTO

There is talk in regards to President Trump’s administration that leans towards appointing crypto-friendly officials and rolling back on restrictive policies, but whether these changes will bring any actual clarity is a question yet to be answered.

Michael Egorov, Founder of decentralised exchange Curve Finance

11:08 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Like father, like son: A Barron Trump meme coin has crashed in price after briefly seeing a market cap close to half a billion dollars.

Unlike his father (and mother), however, 18-year-old Barron Trump has not actually launched his own cryptocurrency. Instead, the BARRON meme coin appears to be an unofficial token created by someone hoping to make a quick buck.

There may be a link back to the Trump family, however, with Coinbase’s Conor Grogan making a link with an account used by the creator of the official $MELANIA token.

“$MELANIA founder uses a deposit address on Kucoin,” he wrote on X. “Another address also used that deposit address, explicitly linked the two. In 99% of cases Ive seen that means they are the same person, but not always. It does mean that they are connected… At the very least it means that someone who knows the creator (and has sent significant money to them) purchased the token.”

10:14 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Donald Trump’s official meme coin is trading at around $36 this morning, down by more than 50 per cent since Sunday.

The sudden drop in price has been mirrored by the meme coin launched by his wife Melania over the weekend, with their combined market caps dropping from $17 billion to just $8 billion in less than 48 hours.

It follows a broader downturn of the crypto market since Trump’s inauguration on Monday, as the incoming president failed to deliver on his campaign promises on his first day in office. Investors and crypto experts remain hopeful that he will issue some pro-crypto executive orders over the coming days.

08:04 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The price of bitcoin has retreated from its record highs yesterday, though still remains above the $100,000 level.

This comes after the initial excitement surrounding Donald Trump’s inauguration was muted by a lack of significant action in the crypto space on the part of the incoming US president.

Having previously promised to set up a bitcoin strategic reserve and introduce pro-crypto regulation, none of Trump’s initial executive orders focussed on cryptocurrency.

Industry figures are still hopeful that he will deliver on his pledge to be the first “crypto president”, with Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire saying he expects an executive order to be signed “imminently” that will allow banks to trade in crypto.

Monday 20 January 2025 19:53 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Donald Trump was the darling of the crypto world after appearing at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville last summer. He was the first US presidential candidate to be openly pro-bitcoin, telling the crowd that he was going to set up a strategic reserve and usher in a new era of crypto-friendly policies and regulation.

“We will have regulations, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” he said during a 50-minute speech, in which he also said he would make the US a “bitcoin superpower”.

But since launching his own meme coin, as well as one for his wife, some bitcoiners are now questioning his true intentions.

Monday 20 January 2025 18:55 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Bitcoin’s latest price record above $109,000 marks a 10 per cent surge over the last day. But zooming out, you can see this rally began long before Trump’s meme coin launch – and even before he was in the frame to become the Republican candidate.

The cryptocurrency has risen in value more than 500 per cent since the start of 2023, when the bull market began. It’s still not clear where the eventual peak of this rally will be, but previous cycles offer a warning of where it might go when the price correction kicks in.

Monday 20 January 2025 16:56 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The launch of the $TRUMP meme coin the weekend before his inauguration appears to have had a massive impact on the incoming president’s net worth.

Donald Trump’s net worth was around $7 billion (£5.7bn) before the launch of $TRUMP, ranking him in the world’s top 500 richest people – $7.16bn according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $6.7bn according to Forbes.

Neither of the estimations take into account his holdings of the cryptocurrency, which has a current market cap of $10bn.

The website for the $TRUMP project reveals that 80 per cent of the cryptocurrency is held by Trump Organisation affiliate CIC Digital, valuing the stake at $8bn – more than double his current net worth.

Monday 20 January 2025 14:41 , Andrew Griffin

Presidential memecoins have already raised – and lost – billions. That isn’t going to stop just yet, experts say.

Read more here.

How $Melania and $Trump meme coins just supercharged the crypto market

Monday 20 January 2025 12:52 , Andrew Griffin

It’s now been around half a day since Melania launched her “meme”. It’s had a rocky day or so – initially surging, then falling, then surging again and now on a fall – but it’s actually almost back to where it started: it’s up 16 per cent since launch, according to CoinMarketCap.

(Strictly, that shouldn’t matter. The official website refers to it only as a “meme” and says that they are “digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support for and engagement with the values embodied by the symbol MELANIA. and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type”.)

Monday 20 January 2025 12:22 , Andrew Griffin

Bitcoin has been busy ever since it became clear that Donald Trump was going to win the election. While it has not always been positive news, it has been volatile since November, and this week marks the latest in that.

At least some of that excitement is because Trump backed cryptocurrency during his run for the president – and has suggested he will make good on that when he takes power. Here’s a look at how bitcoin and crypto could be one of the big winners from the election.

There’s another big winner of the US election: cryptocurrency

Monday 20 January 2025 11:47 , Andrew Griffin

As the incoming president arrives, the overall crypto market has gained half a trillion dollars. Bitcoin is at record highs. And people have invested billions in the memecoins of Trump and his wife.

Here’s the latest, from Anthony Cuthbertson.

Monday 20 January 2025 11:09 , Andrew Griffin

The excitement in the cryptocurrency market comes as the world prepares for Donald Trump to become president again in just a few hours.

You can find all of our coverage of the inauguration in the live blog below.

Trump inauguration day LIVE: President to promise ‘thrilling new era’ in first speech

Monday 20 January 2025 10:45 , Andrew Griffin

…. to The Independent’s live coverage of the cryptocurrency market, which has been sent into a frenzy by Trump’s inauguration – and the launch of his and his wife’s memecoins.