Cryptocurrency Shockwave: Market Plummets as Trump's Inauguration Fails to Deliver on Crypto Hopes

On January 20, 2025, the crypto market experienced a significant downturn with the swearing-in of President Donald Trump. Considering the euphoria of the traders in light of expectations of pro-crypto policies, the speech had no reference to digital assets, which triggered immediate sell-offs in the market. Bitcoin, which had peaked at over $109,000 at some point during the day, declined to around $101,000 during the speech and remained at around $103,000 afterwards.

At first, the buzz around the two meme coins concerning Trump—TRUMP and MELANIA was immense. But as the speech failed to mention cryptocurrencies, the tokens crashed. The $TRUMP coin fell by almost 30% during the address and over 44% later. Such volatility in meme coins led to more uncertainty in the market.

Moreover, huge liquidations have occurred; this $1.2 billion just gets wiped off within 24 hours from the traders betting on the price hike amounting almost to $500 million. Prolific selling happened in this massive price collapse as traders attempted to cut loss, which exacerbated the overall market fall.

When expectations of a pro-crypto supporting regulatory environment did not materialize, overall sentiment quickly swung from bullish to bearish. A combination of unmet expectations over the president's support, meme coins, and deep liquidations caused prices to swiftly decline once Trump was inaugurated.