Bitcoin broke its record on Monday, surpassing the $109,000 mark a few hours before the inauguration of Donald Trump, who promises policies favorable to the sector and conveniently launched his own digital currency this weekend.
The first digital currency by capitalization suddenly rose around 06:30 GMT until reaching a high of $109,241.14. It traded at $107,959.25 around 10:15 GMT.
In search of credibility, bitcoin is now evolving to heights far from being imagined 16 years ago when it was created, and well beyond its value of last November 5, the day of the presidential election, where it oscillated around 69,000 dollars.
But for this controversial market, the return to the White House of Donald Trump, especially with Elon Musk at his side, is seen as a godsend.
Because after describing cryptocurrencies as a scam during his first term, the future president finally changed his tune during his second campaign – partly financed by the sector.
The Republican, who is to be inaugurated president for the second time on Monday, also launched his own digital currency during the night from Friday to Saturday, with dazzling success: trading around 7 dollars shortly after their launch, the 200 million “Trump” tokens rose to around $75 each, before oscillating around $54 on Monday.
– Cryptocurrency Melania –
Speculators interpreted this launch “as a sign that Trump’s promise to make the United States the world capital of bitcoin” and cryptocurrencies “will be honored”. They immediately rushed to bitcoin, “fearing not to benefit from this wave of euphoria”, underlines Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The future head of state presented his new currency as a “memecoin”, a cryptocurrency with no economic or transactional utility, riding on popular enthusiasm around a personality or a viral phenomenon on the internet — and often identified as a purely speculative asset.
Before the creation of this digital currency, entrepreneurs associated with Donald Trump had put online, in mid-October, a cryptocurrency platform, called World Liberty Financial.
On Sunday, the future First Lady, Melania Trump, also launched her own cryptocurrency, called Melania.
-At the beginning of December, the Republican took credit for bitcoin's crossing the symbolic threshold of $100,000. “THERE’S NO MATTER!!!”, he commented on his Truth Social network.
The price of bitcoin had already been boosted at the end of last week by information from Bloomberg, according to which the president-elect plans to publish a decree elevating cryptocurrency to the rank of political priority and giving players in the sector a voice within his administration. .
– “No framework” –
The article also reports that the creation of a national strategic reserve of bitcoins is indeed being considered, which would encompass the existing holdings that the government holds in this crypto.
Such a project “could accelerate the institutional adoption” of bitcoin, underlines John Plassard, expert at Mirabaud, interviewed by AFP.
“However, challenges such as the volatility” of prices, which fluctuate strongly, the challenges in terms of “cybersecurity and the absence of a proven economic framework for its integration still hinder full generalization,” he underlines.
Bitcoin was born in 2008 from a libertarian dream: to escape the control of financial institutions by relying on a technology, the “blockchain”, which makes it possible to record transactions in a decentralized and tamper-proof manner using a network of computers. all over the world.
Over the years, bitcoin, like other cryptocurrencies, has been involved in several financial scandals, as a currency favored by hackers or to monetize illicit activities.
Today he is in search of respectability. In 2021, El Salvador was the first country to adopt it as legal tender, without convincing the population, followed by the Central African Republic. Some merchants accept it as a means of payment, as Elon Musk did for his Tesla cars before turning around.
