Bitcoin Retreats From $109,000 Trump Inauguration High

Bitcoin has retreated from its new record high of $109,350 (£88,785) on Monday, achieved just before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States.

According to CoinMarketCap, the price of Bitcoin is now down to $103,264 (£84,100), after Trump’s inauguration there was no concrete policy announcements regarding the sector among his slew of executive orders on Monday, which appeared take the wind out of the crypto market on Tuesday.

There was also a decline in other cryptocurrencies as the bullish investor sentiment dwindled, and the recently launched cryptocurrencies of both Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump also plummeted.

Donald and Melania

Donald Trump had launched the OFFICIAL TRUMP cryptocurrency last Friday, revealed in a post on Truth Social.

The digital asset was hovering at just over $46 as of 5:25pm EST Sunday, with a market cap of $9.36 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, after hitting a peak of $15 billion earlier on Sunday.

His wife, the first lady Melania Trump had also launched her own cryptocurrency known as the Official Melania Meme, on Sunday.

According to CoinMarketCap, Official Melania Meme (which had a market cap of $1.64 billion), fluctuated and was valued around $8.55 on Sunday and Monday.

But now “Official Trump,” plunged nearly 27 percent in 24 hours, while Melania’s meme more than halved in price in a day.

According to CoinMarketCap, as of Tuesday afternoon, OFFICIAL TRUMP is now down to $37.8, with a market cap down 26.37 percent to $7.55 billion.

CoinMarketCap also revealed that the Official Melania Meme is down to $4, with a market cap down 51.5 percent to $778.7 million.

Positive sentiment

In early December Bitcoin, which was buoyed by a surge of crypto investor optimism for the incoming Trump presidency, had broken past the $100,000 mark, growing 6 percent to hit an all time high of $103,619 (£81,482).

Then in mid December Bitcoin surged 5 percent to a new record high of $107,000 (£84,000), following positive comments on the cryptocurrency by Trump.

Trump previously criticised cryptocurrencies, calling them a “scam”, but praised them during his campaign to the surprise of many.

Speaking at a Bitcoin conference in July, he promised to make the US the “Bitcoin superpower” of the world and suggested creating a strategic reserve of the cryptocurrency.

Financial analysts had said Trump’s comments, along with the “fear of missing out”, or FOMO, have combined to drive investors to buy into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Some had projected Bitcoin could reach $120,000 by the end of this year and $150,000 by mid-2025.