Bitcoin flirts with record high level of $109,000 ahead of Trump’s inauguration

Bitcoin is flirting with the $109,000 level, as positive sentiment continues with pro-crypto U.S. President-elect Donald Trump set to take office on Monday and having launched his memecoin over the weekend.

Bitcoin rose 3.8% over the past 24 hours to reach $109,111 at one point on early Monday morning ET and is currently trading at $108,797 at the time of writing, according to The Block’s price page . 

Ether climbed 4.7% to change hands at $3,431, while Solana lost 5% to trade at $260. Dogecoin fell 2.4% to $0.38.

The bitcoin price movement reflects hopes for more crypto-friendly policies in the U.S., according to Ben El-Baz, managing director of crypto exchange HashKey Global. 

“Bitcoin reached [above] $108,000 while other cryptocurrencies have rapidly pumped on the eve of the US presidential inauguration, with hopes that new policies and regulators will send the price of BTC much further this year as the U.S. economy continues to show strength in the long term,” said El-Baz, adding that the forward momentum has been “further accelerated by the launch of the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins which have attracted more retail users.”

Min Jung, research analyst of Presto Research, told The Block that Trump-related headlines most likely drove the recent rally. “Rumors are circulating that a leaked inauguration speech script suggests the possibility of a bitcoin strategic reserve, though this remains unconfirmed,” said Jung. “Nonetheless, the market has been fueled by substantial speculation and anticipation ahead of Trump’s inauguration.”

The cryptocurrency market has experienced significant volatility in the last 24 hours since the launch of memecoins associated with the Trump family.

Over $1.2 billion in liquidations were reported on centralized exchanges within 24 hours, marking the largest liquidation event in January.

Augustine Fan, head of insights at SOFA, told The Block that memecoins are “a zero-sum game” and the rise of TRUMP and MELANIA has “sucked out a significant amount of liquidity from the system with significant capital-at-risk for the late joiners.”

“We share similar concerns and hope that these meme-driven developments can take a backseat so we can re-focus on some of the institutional developments that the industry has been iterating on,” said Fan.

While Solana saw gains following the launch of the Trump memecoin, the shift in liquidity negatively impacted smaller altcoins, according to Jung. “Specifically, small-cap coins, including AI-related tokens and memecoins with market caps under $100 million, faced significant declines as funds flowed toward TRUMP and MELANIA,” said Jung.