Crypto markets saw sharp price swings on Monday during Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, when enthusiasm turned to disappointment after he refused to mention cryptocurrencies during his first speech.
The broad-market crypto benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index fell more than 5% during the ceremony, while bitcoin (BTC) fell to $101,000 from $106,000 before stabilizing around $103,000. Layer 1 network Solana (SOL), which was at the center of the weekend’s crypto frenzy of Trump-related memecoins, led losses among major altcoins, down nearly 10% from its recent lifetime high.
TRUMP, Donald Trump’s official memecoin that launched on Solana on Friday, plummeted 30% from $50 during Trump’s speech. It subsequently recovered some of its losses, but was still about 20% below its session high. MELANIA, the token named after First Lady Melanie Trump and which launched a day after TRUMP, plunged as much as 46% before paring some of the losses.
Read More: Bitcoin Fades From Highs After No Cryptocurrencies Mentioned During Trump’s Inauguration Speech
Volatility also wiped out leveraged cryptocurrency trading positions en masse, liquidating more than $700 million in derivatives across all digital assets on exchanges as of Monday, CoinGlass data shows. Nearly $500 million in liquidated positions were long positions betting that prices would rise.
Including overnight liquidation before the takeover, total liquidations exceed $1.2 billion in the last 24 hours, marking the largest deleveraging this year.
Anticipation for the Trump presidency was immense in the cryptocurrency industry, with friendlier policies towards digital assets expected after years of regulatory uncertainty and repression. However, the launch of Trump-affiliated meme tokens just days before he took office sparked a speculative frenzy on cryptocurrency trading platforms and irritated several prominent figures inside and outside the industry.
“It is absolutely absurd that he would do this,” Nic Carter, founding partner at cryptocurrency investment firm Castle Island Ventures, told Politico. “They’re reaching new levels of idiocy with the launch of memecoin.”
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, was the latest to denounce the action.
“This meme coin represents the worst of cryptocurrencies and shows why many regulators, advocates and policymakers have long been concerned,” he said in a statement on Monday. “These actions by President Trump will also further damage the cryptocurrency industry, which has long struggled for legitimacy and a level playing field with other financial institutions.”
