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Bitcoin hit a new all-time high overnight after the first pair to enter launched a pair of meme coins and traders are waiting the inauguration of the future president Donald Trump.
On Monday, the flagship cryptocurrency was last up nearly 1% at $106,622.54, according to Coin Metrics. It earlier rose to $109,350.72 after briefly dipping below the $100,000 mark on Sunday.
Bitcoin Hits New Record Ahead of Trump’s Inauguration
on weekends Trump launched “Official Trump” the meme coin, which has grown to a market capitalization of $10.6 billion and is up more than 659% since Friday night, according to data from CoinGecko and Coinbase. It was down about 27% on Monday from an all-time high of around $73 a coin , then returning First lady Melania Trump started her own “Melania” meme coin on Sunday — nearly halving the value of the Trump coin at one point.
Melania Memwhich began trading on Sunday night, has reached a market capitalization of $1.3 billion and is up 14% since launch. It attracted $7.3 billion in trading volume in the last day, compared to $31 billion for the Trump meme.
While meme coins are considered the riskiest corner of the already risky cryptocurrency market, the launch of Trump coins over the weekend further reassured traders that the new administration will be positive for the industry.
“This move underscores President Trump’s commitment to crypto and his belief that Americans should have the freedom to operate in this emerging asset class,” said Joel Krueger, market strategist at LMAX.
“There is a logic here that suggests that putting a stamp of approval on what could be perceived as the wildest of crypto-assets, meme coins, is the best way to convey how much support the market should expect from the administration. when it comes to crypto adoption and making America a major player in the space.”
Noel Acheson, an economist and author of the newsletter Crypto is Macro Now, echoed that sentiment, calling the drop in memes a net positive and “a sign that he’s very supportive of new ideas (and) new markets.”
Bitcoin began gaining momentum last week as speculation began that Trump might announce an executive order on crypto early in his new term. Gracie Chen, CEO of crypto exchange Bitget, said optimism is having a bigger impact on its value.
“Rumours that the cryptocurrency may be declared a national interest of the United States during the inauguration have a positive effect on the price of Bitcoin,” she told CNBC. “I do not believe that the rise in the price of Bitcoin is due to the launch of new meme tokens. Rather … without the Trump family’s token issuance, the price of Bitcoin would have risen even more. Instead, capital has shifted to new coins, limiting overall growth.”
The broader crypto market as measured by CoinDesk 20 the index fell 1% on Monday and is up less than 1% since Saturday. The lexeme is attached to Salana fell more than 7% on Monday, but is up 15% since Saturday, thanks to the Trump meme coin launched on the popular Ethereum alternative networks. Ether lost 5% since Saturday.
Bitcoin’s new record high paves the way for a possible rally to $130,000, LMAX’s Kruger added.
