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Bitcoin Surges to Record High as Trump Takes Office Amidst Crypto Optimism

Theodore QuinnMonday, Jan 20, 2025 12:21 pm ET

3min read

Bitcoin has reached another record high, surging past $109,000 on Monday, as investors anticipate a crypto-friendly administration under President-elect Donald Trump. The price of the world's most popular cryptocurrency has been on a tear since Trump's election victory in November, with the post-election rally accounting for a significant portion of its gains. Bitcoin is up more than 130% for the year so far, far outpacing the S&P 500's 28% gain over the same period.

The crypto industry has been bullish on Trump's promises to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world." Trump has pledged to create a "strategic national bitcoin stockpile," hold onto seized bitcoin instead of auctioning it off, and enact industry-friendly regulations. His intended nomination of crypto advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has further fueled optimism among investors.

Bitcoin's price surge comes as the TRUMP meme coin was launched on Friday evening, experiencing a wild weekend of trading action. Incoming first lady Melania Trump also launched her own meme coin on Sunday, adding to the notion that the arrival of the new administration will be a positive development for crypto investors. Spot bitcoin ETF inflows neared $1 billion on Friday, as crypto investor optimism about the incoming Trump administration has been building.

The highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, as well as their use by criminals, scammers, and rogue nations, has attracted plenty of critics. However, crypto has so far defied naysayers and survived multiple prolonged price drops in its short lifespan. Wealthy players in the crypto industry, who felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win last November's election. 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%. It jumped more than $9,000 early Monday, according to CoinDesk.

The odds of Trump establishing a national bitcoin reserve in 2025 increased from 39% to 65% over the past week, according to prediction market Polymarket. On Sunday, the president-elect noted that bitcoin's surge to new all-time highs after the election has been part of a greater "Trump effect" on markets. During the presidential campaign, Trump made a number of promises that would be beneficial to the crypto industry. Solana, which is the crypto network where the TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins were launched, also reached a new all-time high over the weekend.

The TRUMP meme coin has been a wild ride for speculators so far, with its market capitalization standing at just under $10 billion on Monday morning. The meme coin saw a 44% drop in less than an hour on Sunday around the time of the launch of the MELANIA meme coin.

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