Bitcoin hit a record high above $109,000 on Monday as Donald Trump, who plans to regulate the cryptocurrency sector and launch his own “meme coin,” was sworn in as US president. Are preparing for.
Bitcoin reached an all-time peak of $109,241 ahead of Trump’s inauguration, before falling to around $107,000.
The value of the world’s largest cryptocurrency has surged nearly 60 percent since Trump won the presidential election in early November, surpassing $100,000 for the first time in early December.
It comes as he nominated cryptocurrency supporter Paul Atkins to head the US securities regulator, boosting optimism that the new president will deregulate the sector.
Despite once labeling cryptocurrencies a “scam”, Trump changed his stance and was a prominent supporter of them during his election campaign.
When Bitcoin reached the historic $100,000 mark, Trump wrote on his Truth social platform: “Congratulations Bitcoiners!!! $100,000!!! Welcome!!! Together, we will make America great again!”
$trump
Over the weekend, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency, a so-called meme coin appropriately called $TRUMP, triggering a rapid buying spree that increased its market capitalization to several billion dollars.
Future first lady Melania Trump also released her own cryptocurrency, $MELANIA.
The $TRUMP meme coin, designed to capitalize on the popularity of a personality, movement or viral internet trend, was unveiled by the president-elect in a post on Truth Social and X – which is owned by fellow crypto enthusiast Elon Musk is near.
“Beyond that optimism, Trump’s policies are expected to be a double-edged sword,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said on Monday.
“His pro-growth policies and deregulation are expected to benefit the US economy, but his tariff policies will almost certainly increase inflation.”
The cryptocurrency has made headlines since its creation, from its extreme volatility to the collapse of several industry giants, most prominent among them the FTX exchange platform.
Bitcoin was conceived in 2008 by an individual or group writing under the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
It was introduced as a way to break free from mainstream financial institutions by establishing a decentralized platform for transactions.
With Trump in the White House, “hopefully crypto will be brought into the financial mainstream, with clear rules about how individuals and companies can trade such assets,” said Susannah Streeter, head of wealth and markets at Hargreaves Lansdowne. said on Monday. ,
Trump has vowed to make the United States the “Bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world.”
Digital currency is then created – or “mined” – as a reward when powerful computers solve complex problems to validate transactions made on a medal-proof register known as a blockchain.
Bitcoin has long been criticized for being the currency of choice for making untraceable payments on the so-called Dark Web, a hidden part of the Internet used for criminal activities.
The asset has also been attacked for facilitating money laundering and allowing extortion through ransomware attacks.
Its carbon footprint is also under scrutiny as mining cryptocurrencies requires huge amounts of energy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
