WILD SWINGS
Yet perhaps the crypto world’s pivot against Trump speaks to deeper anxiety about the sustainability of the broader digital-asset rally, which has seen Bitcoin’s price gain more than 160 per cent in one year amid wider institutional backing from the likes of BlackRock and the promise of friendlier regulation.
Below the surface, the speculative fervour for meme coins has been building for a while, with squirrel-themed token PNUT hitting a market cap of US$1 billion last year and Hawk Tuah girl launching a coin of her own (with disastrous results.)
Trump’s latest squeeze of the crypto lemon could be the moment the entire market looks as frothy as it did in 2017 when cash poured into risky Initial Coin Offerings or in 2022 when non-fungible tokens (NFTs) fetched millions. Bitcoin may aspire to be digital gold, but the last crash saw it tank 67 per cent in a year.
It’s also rather convenient for crypto elites to suddenly display concern for the average punter when the Trump campaign showed little interest in prioritising financial stability or consumer protection.
Was the president’s repeat sale of NFTs not enough of a clue? Or his support for the government HODLing Bitcoin, which would put taxpayers on the hook for an asset that’s existed for less time than Pokemon cards? Or indeed the promise of friendlier regulation just as the courts rake through the debris of 2022’s US$40 billion Terra crash?
