Crypto Market Volatility Follows Trump’s Inauguration, As Expectations for Pro-Crypto Policies Remain Unmet
Crypto markets experienced significant price fluctuations on Monday during Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, as traders’ heightened expectations were left unfulfilled when the incoming president did not mention cryptocurrency in his speech.
The CoinDesk 20 Index, a broad-market crypto benchmark, dropped over 5% during the event. Bitcoin (BTC), which had been trading at $106,000 before the speech, dipped to $101,000 before stabilizing around $103,000. Solana (SOL), which had been at the center of the crypto frenzy surrounding Trump-related memecoins, led the losses among altcoin majors, falling nearly 10% from its recent all-time high.
TRUMP, the official memecoin launched on Solana just days before the inauguration, saw a sharp 30% decline from $50 during Trump’s speech. While it later regained some of the losses, the token was still down about 20% from its session high. MELANIA, the memecoin named after First Lady Melania Trump, which debuted one day after TRUMP, plummeted as much as 46% before recovering some of its value.
The market volatility also resulted in widespread liquidations, with over $700 million worth of derivatives across all digital assets being wiped out on exchanges on Monday, according to CoinGlass data. Nearly $500 million of these liquidations were from long positions, where traders had bet on rising prices. Including the pre-inauguration selloff, the total liquidations in the past 24 hours exceeded $1.2 billion, marking the largest leverage wipeout of the year.
Anticipation for Trump’s presidency had been high within the crypto community, as many expected his policies to favor digital assets after years of regulatory uncertainty and crackdowns. However, the recent launch of Trump-affiliated meme tokens just before his inauguration sparked a speculative frenzy in the crypto space, leading to mixed reactions from both industry figures and politicians.
Nic Carter, founding partner at Castle Island Ventures, expressed his disapproval of the meme token launch, calling it “absolutely preposterous” and criticizing it as a poor decision for the crypto industry. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, also condemned the move, stating that it “represents the worst of crypto” and could undermine the industry’s efforts to gain legitimacy.
“President Trump’s actions will further taint the crypto industry, which has long fought for legitimacy and a level playing field with other financial institutions,” Waters said in a statement on Monday.
