PK Press Club–Bitcoin fell on Monday, reversing its trend following a weekend rally as increased market volatility following two memecoin launches by President-elect Donald Trump dented sentiment toward crypto markets.
Traders were also nervous ahead of Trump’s inauguration later Monday, with the president-elect expected to sign a series of executive orders outlining policy changes. But what these changes would entail remains unclear, although Trump has promised more crypto-friendly policies during his term.
fell 2.5% to $102,481.9 at 12:28 a.m. ET (05:28 GMT).
Volatility of Trump and Melania memecoins diminishes appetite for cryptocurrencies
Crypto markets initially welcomed the launch of Trump’s memecoin, $TRUMP, which has accelerated sharply since its launch on Friday. The token rose over 7,000% within hours of its launch, gaining market capital of over $14 billion.
But the token was then subjected to heavy profit-taking, down sharply from its weekend highs.
Trump was also criticized for launching a new memecoin themed after future first lady Melania Trump, $MELANIA, with crypto traders raising some concerns about the ethical implications of Trump exploiting his political status to transform markets speculative in his favor.
The launch of $TRUMP, of which the president-elect holds a significant number of tokens, has significantly increased his personal wealth, at least on paper.
Trump policies in focus as inauguration approaches
Trump is expected to take office on Monday starting at 12:00 p.m. ET (17:00 GMT).
The president-elect has promised to enact crypto-friendly regulations during his second term and pledged to make America the “crypto capital of the world.”
Although Trump nominated several pro-crypto candidates to key regulatory positions, markets were uncertain about what policies he would outline, given that some of his more ambitious promises, like a Bitcoin strategic reserve, may require approval of Congress.
Uncertainty about the impact of Trump’s policies on the broader economy, particularly given his hard line on immigration and trade, has limited risk appetite.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Follow Bitcoin Losses
Broader crypto prices followed Bitcoin’s losses as they also lost steam following a weekend rally.
The world’s No. 2 crypto fell 0.3% to $3,287.29, while it fell 3.4% to $3.0939.
and fell between 5% and 11%, while among meme tokens, lost 7.5%.
