Bitcoin has hit new all-time highs as President-elect Donald Trump secured victory in the 2024 United States presidential election.Set to return to th
Bitcoin has hit new all-time highs as President-elect Donald Trump secured victory in the 2024 United States presidential election.
Set to return to the White House after departing in January 2021, Trump now appears to be bringing a pro-crypto stance with him. His campaign made several pledges in support of the cryptocurrency sector, marking a difference with the previous administration.
As Trump prepares to resume office, Cointelegraph looks back on how the cryptocurrency landscape appeared during his last term. The industry has seen major shifts since then — half of the top 10 coins from his previous term have fallen out of the rankings.
Here’s a look at how the top 10 cryptocurrencies from Trump’s last presidency are faring today.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin price Jan. 20, 2021: $35,302.18
Bitcoin price Nov. 11, 2024: $82,379.60
Since Trump’s last White House stint, Bitcoin has gone through more twists than the president-elect’s path to election victory. First, there was an all-time high of about $67,000 in November 2021. Then came FTX — the seismic crash of November 2022 that took Bitcoin down to $17,000 and left everyone wondering if the ride was over
Fast forward through a bear market for both Bitcoin (BTC) and the global economy, with BTC dragging its feet through most of it.
Still, like any good comeback story, Bitcoin rebounded in 2024 as it became accessible to institutions on the US stock market through those shiny new spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
With analysts’ eyes glued to the $100,000 mark as Trump’s victory signals the beginning of the end for crypto’s supervillain, Gary Gensler at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the asset has already smashed past the $82,000 mark.
In addition, Bitcoin now hosts digital trinkets like Ordinals (an iteration of non-fungible tokens) and some of the internet’s favorite memecoins through Runes. So while Bitcoin remains the gold-standard crypto in the age of Trump 2.0, it’s also found some new ways to keep itself interesting along the way.
From undisputed king to layer-2 lab rat
Ether price Jan. 20, 2021: $1,361.05
Ether price Nov. 11, 2024: $3,175.47
Ether (ETH) was the undisputed monarch of smart contracts, reigning over a kingdom of decentralized applications. Now the crown isn’t quite as secure and the network has some serious competition.
Solana, the fast, flashy upstart is now ranked fourth by market cap, taking the lead among the “Ethereum killer” blockchains.
Ethereum, however, has chosen a different route to stay relevant. Rather than battling it out for raw speed, it opted to expand with layer-2 solutions. This has helped ease the infamous congestion and sky-high fees, but there’s a cost.
These layer-2 networks have drained liquidity and fragmented Ethereum’s ecosystem, transforming its once-unified realm into a sprawling collection of mini-kingdoms.
In its quest to evolve, Ethereum also went green with The Merge in September 2022, swapping out proof-of-work for a more eco-friendly proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
The upgrade slashed Ethereum’s energy use by 99% and set the stage for future scalability tweaks like sharding. The crypto world applauded, and it was a big step for Ethereum’s sustainability, though it didn’t come with the explosive price surge some investors anticipated.
And while Bitcoin has been busy breaking records, Ethereum was left in the dust despite listing spot ETFs of its own. For now, Ethereum is still hanging on to its No. 2 spot, but simply being a legacy brand might not be enough to keep the crown.
Ignoring the haters
In the wake of the Terra-Luna collapse—an implosion that rattled faith in algorithmic stablecoins everywhere—Tether’s USDT has not only weathered the storm but emerged stronger than ever. Now the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, USDT’s valuation has ballooned to about $120 billion.
Despite raking in a net profit of $2.5 billion in the third quarter, bringing 2024’s total to $7.7 billion, the company still hasn’t undergone a full, comprehensive audit. Instead, Tether provides regular attestations.
Related: Tether posts $2.5B in Q3 profits, with 2024 earnings reaching $7.7B
So, what’s driving this profit parade? US Treasury Bills, mostly. Tether’s reserves now claim a comfortable $6 billion buffer, with $102.5 billion in Treasury Bills, making Uncle Sam’s debt Tether’s golden goose.
But with great profits come great questions. Without a formal audit, many are left wondering if Tether’s vaults are as solid as they claim. Tether may be the titan, but trust is still the currency that matters most.
From contender to rebuilder
Polkadot price Jan. 20, 2021: $15.94
Polkadot price Nov. 11, 2024: $5.13
Back in Trump’s last term, Polkadot (DOT) was riding high. With a market value of $17 per token and the fourth spot in the crypto rankings, it looked poised to become the bridge across blockchain ecosystems, promising a future of seamless crosschain…
cointelegraph.com