Bitcoin Drops to $100K as Melania Trump Launches Memecoin, TRUMP Token Falls 30%
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a pullback to $100,000 on Monday morning during Asia trading hours, as the launch of TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins triggered significant market volatility.
The leading cryptocurrency briefly dipped below $100,000, reflecting a 4.5% drop in the last 24 hours. Other major coins, including ETH, XRP, SOL, and BNB, saw even larger losses, with ADA and DOGE falling more than 10%, according to data from CoinDesk and CoinGecko.
The TRUMP memecoin, associated with President-elect Donald Trump, saw a 30% decline, dropping to $49 after its debut on Saturday. This setback coincided with the launch of Melania Trump’s own memecoin, MELANIA.
Melania Trump posted on X on Sunday, announcing, “The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now.” The MELANIA token, created on the Solana blockchain, has been positioned as a fun, fungible cryptocurrency to engage users and investors.
Unexpectedly, MELANIA surged by an astonishing 24,000%, reaching a peak price of $13, drawing liquidity away from TRUMP, which had been the top-traded cryptocurrency on Binance over the weekend. This rapid rise in MELANIA‘s price has been linked to the drop in TRUMP‘s value.
Many market analysts believe that the frenetic trading around TRUMP and MELANIA reflects the “FOMO” (fear of missing out) stage of a bull market, which could lead to a price correction for Bitcoin.
On the other hand, Jeff Dorman, CIO at Arca, sees the TRUMP token’s launch as a positive signal for the entire crypto space. Dorman believes the U.S. regulatory concerns that have previously held back the market may now be alleviated. “For years, U.S. token issuers and investors were hindered by regulatory concerns. But now that the President himself is both issuing and investing in a token, those concerns have been removed,” Dorman explained on X.
Dorman further noted, “The TRUMP token has shown every business, university, and individual that crypto can be used for capital formation and building customer loyalty.”
As Trump’s inauguration nears, there is growing speculation that he will take immediate action upon taking office, potentially signing an executive order to establish a Bitcoin Reserve, a move that could reshape cryptocurrency’s role in U.S. financial policy.
