Bitcoin surged to a fresh record high in volatile trading on Monday, January 20th, ahead of the inauguration of pro-crypto president Donald Trump later.
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With stock markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, attention shifted to the crypto markets and saw a new all-time high for Bitcoin, which breached $109,000 on hopes the incoming president will be friendly towards the industry.
The buying frenzy in Bitcoin came as Trump launched his own cryptocurrency over the weekend, dubbed $TRUMP, which soared to a market cap of $14 billion overnight before dropping back a touch.
His wife Melania Trump also launched a rival dubbed $MELANIA, which also skyrocketed over the weekend. However, not everyone thinks the launch of these meme coins is good for the sector.
Bitcoin Hits Record High
With interest soaring, buyers emerged for Bitcoin, which rose a record high of $109,590 before trimming gains to trade at $108,341.88 at time of writing.
The move underlines optimism in the space as traders bet that Trump’s presidency could push Bitcoin to $150,000 in short order.
Central to the bull thesis is the establishment by Trump of a Bitcoin strategic reserve, utilizing the roughly 215,000 Bitcoin seized by the U.S. government since 2020, which is currently worth roughly $22.5 billion. Meanwhile a bill sponsored by Republican senator Cynthia Lummis proposes the purchase of 200,000 Bitcoin a year for five years.
But not everyone is sounding upbeat about the Trump effect on Bitcoin, with doubts being raised specifically about the impact of the meme coin launches over the weekend.
“The Trump meme coin stuff is bad for the industry,” said SkyBridge Capital Founder and one-time Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci. “Don’t delude yourself. It’s Idi Amin level corruption.”
“I don’t like it,” said Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. “I get its prob being done to add to the enthusiasm for the dawn of a new era but it seems exploitative. Unforced error in the making IMO.”
Crypto investor Scott Melker was marginally more upbeat, saying on X that while “bad for humanity” it was at least “good for crypto” by onboarding millions of new investors into the space.
What is the Price Of Bitcoin?
