(Jan 21): Bitcoin held a retreat from a record as traders awaited crypto policy directives from US President Donald Trump following his inauguration. 

The market was expecting an executive order in support of the digital-asset sector, but it didn’t appear in Trump’s blitz of actions on his first day in office. He focused instead on topics such as immigration, trade, energy and TikTok.

The original cryptocurrency changed hands at about US$102,400 (RM458,598) as of 12.31pm on Tuesday in Singapore. The token hit a peak of US$109,241 ahead of Trump’s swearing in before falling back. Most other digital assets also wavered.

“It is premature to draw strong conclusions from the absence of an immediate executive order”, given that the Trump administration has a range of priorities, said Richard Galvin, a co-founder of hedge fund DACM. “Markets have shown resilience, suggesting investors are taking a similar, longer-term view.”

Before the inauguration, Trump and his wife Melania unveiled memecoins that whipsawed the market by diverting flows. Investors later embraced the notion that the move further incentivises Trump to embrace crypto-friendly policies. 

Bloomberg News previously reported that Trump is considering an executive order designating the asset class a “national priority”. Trump became an ardent supporter of the digital-assets industry on the campaign trail, after once having branded bitcoin a scam. He pledged to make the US the world’s crypto capital and backed the idea of creating a strategic bitcoin stockpile. 

While it was a surprise that Trump didn’t issue an executive order “praising” crypto, “one should be forthcoming”, though it may not be “substantive”, TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a note.

The Trump memecoin traded at about US$34, according to figures from CoinMarketCap. It hit an overall market value of more than US$15 billion on Sunday, but slid below US$7 billion on Tuesday.

The Trump and Melania memecoins drew criticism from some industry executives, partly over the worry that they risk making crypto look frivolous. 

Others took a different view. Ben El-Baz, the managing director of HashKey Global, said the tokens debuted by the Republican and his team had further accelerated bitcoin’s momentum, as retail traders look for his administration to “prioritise and reaffirm his commitment to the crypto industry”.

Memecoins are a kind of cryptocurrency with questionable intrinsic value and high volatility. They rely on social media tailwinds to drive up their price and can slide as quickly as they climb.

An 80% share of the Trump token is owned by a Trump Organization affiliate called CIC Digital LLC, and a related entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC — whose name echoes the words Trump mouthed after a bullet grazed his ear during the campaign trail. Their holdings will be unlocked over a three-year period.

According to the website, 200 million of the tokens immediately became available, a supply that will grow to one billion over three years. The small print on the website states the token isn’t intended to be an “investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type”. 

To Gautam Chhugani of Bernstein, a memecoin “capitalising on Trump’s brand and politics, has potential longevity”. And while some may “cringe”, he added that this marks the start of a “new crypto regulatory era”.

Bitcoin has jumped about 50% since Trump’s US election victory in early November, raising the question of whether the rally is due a breather if the anticipated presidential action fails to excite speculators.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee