In the latest developments from the cryptocurrency world, Bitcoin soared to a new all-time high, surpassing $109,000, fueled by the market’s anticipation ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration set for later today. This significant surge occurred shortly after the digital currency previously hit a high of $108,000 in December 2024. Following the spike, Bitcoin prices briefly dropped but remained strong at around $108,342, as per CoinGecko data, reflecting a 3% increase over the past 24 hours.
This Bitcoin rally was seemingly influenced by heightened market activity related to Trump’s upcoming inauguration as the 47th president. His election victory had already triggered a crypto market rally, pushing Bitcoin to cross the $100,000 mark for the first time in early December last year.
Meanwhile, a unique crypto dynamic unfolded with the introduction of memecoins linked to the Trump family. A significant fluctuation was observed after Melania Trump launched her own memecoin, the Melania Meme (MELANIA), which led to a sharp drop in the value of Donald Trump’s memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP). Within hours of its launch, MELANIA’s market cap reached over $13 billion but later settled around $10.5 billion. Conversely, TRUMP’s worth plunged almost 40%, dropping its peak market valuation from $14.92 billion to about $7.8 billion before partially recovering.
Additionally, the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial crypto platform concluded an initial sale for part of its token supply and is now offering more tokens at an increased price.
The introduction of these memecoins spurred a spike in Google searches for crypto-related terms, particularly the phrases “buy crypto” and “buy Solana,” which reached peak interest levels on January 19. Analysts suggest that this surge in interest could signal robust growth for the cryptocurrency sector under the incoming Trump administration, though opinions vary, with some viewing the memecoin activity as a transient and possibly risky trend typical of celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrencies.