News | January 29, 2025

Crypto shudders in US President Trump’s 1st week

by the Crystal Marketing Team

This week, Bitcoin took a wild ride after US President Trump’s first days in office, the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins ignited debate while he appointed a pro-crypto US Treasury Secretary, and crypto ETPs enjoyed growth after one of his executive orders. 

Bitcoin reverberates during US President Trump’s first week in office 

During US President Trump’s first week of his second term in office, Bitcoin, having seen record highs in the months since his successful election, settled at $101,927.2 on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. This was after having dropped to under $100,000 just a day earlier. 

The fluctuations are partly attributable to a reduced investment appetite for technology stocks since the launch of China’s simple but effective DeepSeek R1 AI model, which has, in turn, impacted crypto. Additionally, uncertainty about trade tariffs may have impacted investors’ tastes, with incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly wanting a 2.5% duty with incremental rises, while Trump called for much higher tariffs. 

Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order on January 23 which established the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. Among the group’s tasks are the development of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, assessing the establishment of a federal digital asset stockpile, and shelving the notion of forming a central bank digital currency (CBDC). 

Find out more about this story at Investing.com

$TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins spark debate in the crypto community 

In the days leading up to President Trump’s January 20 inauguration, both he and the First Lady, Melania Trump launched meme coins, signaling their entry into the crypto market. $TRUMP and $MELANIA both ascended quickly in value, with the former reaching $11B and the latter, $1.7B. 

While their values soar, ethical debates have swirled around whether senior political figures should involve themselves in the market in this way, with crypto expert Justin D’Anethan asking, “Should public figures, especially those with such political clout, wield this kind of sway in speculative markets? Trump had also previously dismissed cryptocurrencies as a scam in 2021 and called it a threat to the US dollar, and the first family’s movements on meme coins could mislead inexperienced investors. 

However, the Trumps say the launch of the meme coins as being ‘for fun and support, not for investment.’ Supporters also call it a clever marketing move which speaks to Trump’s adaptability, and that it could grow the crypto industry by attracting new investors. 

Nonetheless, observers will closely follow how the value of the Trumps’ meme coins evolves in the early stages of his presidency and watch if they truly have the potential to compete with the more established Shiba Inu and Dogecoin. 

Find out more about this story at Cryptointelligence

US President Trump appoints pro-crypto Treasury secretary 

The US Treasury has confirmed Trump’s pro-crypto billionaire nominee, 62-year-old Scott Bessent, as the country’s new federal financial Secretary. Bessent will control fiscal policy, financial regulations, international sanctions and overseas investments. 

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse welcomed the news, saying, “I’m confident he will enact common-sense economic policies, working with the Administration and Congress to grow US tech and crypto innovation.” 

Bessent strongly supports Trump’s agenda, including the renewal of $4 trillion in expiring tax cuts, the implementation of tariffs, and an increase in oil production.  

He is known to be pro-crypto, which he views as being “about freedom, and the crypto economy is here to stay,” and is against a central bank digital currency, which he sees as being ”only for countries that have no investment alternatives”. 

Under Trump’s January 23 crypto executive order, Bessent’s Treasury will form part of the government working group creating US crypto policy and strategy. Also in the group is Trump’s AI and crypto tzar, David Sacks, together with the chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

Find out more about this story at Cointelegraph

Crypto ETPs spike in week following Trump’s inauguration 

Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) enjoyed another strong showing in the wake of US President Trump’s pro-crypto executive order (EO) of January 23, 2025. After the EO, crypto ETPs achieved $1.9B in inflows, which brought the year-to-date (YTD) total for 2025 to $4.7B. 

Bitcoin ETPs led the way over the week, with inflows of $1.6B, while its YTD total topped $4.4B, which currently constitutes 92% of all crypto ETP YTD inflows. Ethereum ETPs followed with $205M of inflows last week, while XRP ETPs drew $18.5M over the same period. 

Among crypto ETP issuers, BlackRock led with $1.5 billion in weekly inflows, while Grayscale experienced outflows amounting to $124 million. 

Find out more about this story at Cointelegraph

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