Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high of $109,241 on January 20 as Donald Trump takes over the White House as president of the United States.
Ahead of the crypto-friendly president’s inauguration and the launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA issued by Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, Bitcoin surged 5.5 per cent to set a new record, according to the report from Bloomberg.
The surge came after Mr Trump and Mrs Melania introduced meme coins over the weekend. $TRUMP briefly reached a market capitalisation of more than $15 billion before falling sharply.
The meme coin has disrupted the digital asset market, reducing its influence into bitcoin and smaller tokens and drawing criticism from industry experts.
Bitcoin, Ethereum (the second largest cryptocurrency), and XRP surged Monday morning in London as traders counted down the hours before Mr Trump’s officials returned to the White House.
Bloomberg News reported that he was considering an exclusive order to deem crypto assets a ‘’national priority’’.
Ben El-Baz, CEO of Hashkey Global, said the launch of meme coins by Mr Trump and his team has further fuelled Bitcoin’s rally, as retail traders expect the Republican president to prioritise and reaffirm his commitments to the crypto industry.
(AZC/NAN)
