The price of Bitcoin has continued its downward slide just a week before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. On Monday, the leading cryptocurrency briefly fell below $91,000 before regaining some ground. By 2:34 p.m. Nigerian time, Bitcoin was trading at $91,400.96, marking a 3% decline. This drop comes as market speculation suggests that the US Federal Reserve may have limited scope for further interest-rate cuts.
Bitcoin, which reached an all-time high of $108,316 last month, has seen its post-election gains slow to about 40%. As of early Tuesday morning, the cryptocurrency was trading at $94,800 in Nigeria. The broader crypto market mirrored Bitcoin’s downturn, with Ethereum’s Ether dropping over 5% to $3,083.01, Solana falling nearly 6%, Dogecoin slipping by almost 5%, and Cardano plunging by 8%. Investors remain cautious, fearing that the Federal Reserve’s prolonged rate pause and President-elect Trump’s potential tariff and immigration policies could stoke inflation.
Charlie Morris, Chief Investment Officer at ByteTree Asset Management, weighed in on the situation, stating, “It makes little sense to try to call a turn until markets get a sense of what the new administration will really mean. We can assume it is pro-crypto, but we cannot escape the fact that major financial markets are richly priced, with the tech sector vulnerable to a pullback.”
The crypto industry has expressed optimism following Trump’s appointment of Paul Atkins as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins, a cryptocurrency advocate, has led efforts to establish best practices and legal frameworks for the sector through his role at Patomak Global Partners and The Digital Chamber’s Token Alliance. This move signals a potentially favorable regulatory environment under the incoming administration.
As the world watches, Trump’s campaign promises of a strategic national Bitcoin reserve and a push for domestic Bitcoin mining have sparked hope for greater adoption and legitimacy for digital assets. Despite the current decline, many in the crypto community remain optimistic, viewing this phase as a temporary correction ahead of a potential boom under Trump’s leadership.