(NEW YORK) — Cryptocurrencies affiliated with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plummeted in the initial hours after Trump was sworn into office Monday.
“Official Trump,” a recently launched crypto token, plunged more than 20% in value over a 24-hour stretch ending Tuesday morning, according to crypto tracking site CoinGecko. After the drop, Official Trump stood at $38.
The decline for Trump’s meme coin reverses some of the gains enjoyed in an initial surge after it hit crypto markets last week. The coin’s price climbed from about $10 on Saturday morning to a high of about $74.59 before it began to slide.
“Melania Meme,” which also launched last week, dropped in value by more than half over a 24-hour timespan ending on Tuesday morning, CoinGecko data showed. The price of the Melania Meme was $4.19 on Tuesday morning.
The recent decline for the coins associated with Trump and Melania coincided with a slight drop for bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency. In early trading on Tuesday, bitcoin fell nearly one percentage point, putting its price at $102,853.
Many digital assets have climbed since Trump won the November election, indicating investor enthusiasm about declarations Trump made in support of cryptocurrency.
In July, Trump told the audience at a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville, Tennessee, that he wanted to turn the U.S. into the “crypto capital of the planet.”
Trump also has promised to ease regulations for the sector and establish the federal government’s first National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
On Monday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler officially resigned from his position, marking the departure long-sought by some crypto boosters who viewed Gensler as overly restrictive toward digital assets.
There have been reports that Trump would sign an executive action that would prioritize cryptocurrency policy. However, no such order was among the dozens of actions Trump signed
(WASHINGTON) — Consumer prices rose 2.7% in November compared to a year ago, ticking upward from the previous month and potentially giving pause to the Federal Reserve as it weighs an interest rate cut expected next week. The reading matched economists’ expectations.
The fresh data marked two consecutive months of rising inflation, extending a bout of accelerated price increases that has reversed some of the progress made in lowering inflation earlier in the year.
The inflation gauge makes up the last piece of significant economic data before the Fed announces its next interest rate decision on Dec. 18. A finding of accelerated price hikes may give the Fed pause as it weighs interest rate cuts.
The inflation gauge makes up the last piece of significant economic data before the Fed announces its next interest rate decision on Dec. 18.
Core inflation — a closely watched measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices — increased 3.3% over the year ending in November, matching the previous month, the data showed.
Food prices rose 2.4% in November compared to a year ago, matching the previous month and marking slower price increases than the overall inflation rate.
Prices fell in November compared to a year ago for an array of household staples like cereal, rice, flour, bread, bacon and seafood.
Over that period, the price of eggs soared more than 37%, however, as a result of an avian flu that has depleted supply. Prices for sugar, butter and pork chops also rose faster than the overall inflation rate.
Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of more than 9% in June 2022, but price increases remain slightly above the target rate of 2%.
In recent months, the Fed has cut its benchmark rate three quarters of a percentage point, dialing back its yearslong fight against inflation and delivering relief for borrowers saddled with high costs.
The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point at its meeting next week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
Over time, rate cuts ease the burden on borrowers for everything from home mortgages to credit cards to cars, making it cheaper to get a loan or refinance one. The cuts also boost company valuations, potentially helping fuel returns for stockholders.
In theory, the policy eases access to funds, stimulates economic activity and boosts demand. But the promise of bolstered consumer strength risks increased prices.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell voiced optimism about the prospects for achieving a “soft landing,” in which the U.S. averts a recession while inflation returns to normal.
“We continue to be confident that with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the economy and labor market can be maintained with inflation moving sustainably down to 2%,” Powell said.
The trajectory of inflation could shift in the coming months. Some economists expect President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals of heightened tariffs and the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants to raise consumer prices.
When asked about the Fed’s potential response to Trump’s policies, Powell said the central bank would make its rate decisions based on how any policy changes impact the economy.
“In the near term, the election will have no effects on our policy decisions,” Powell said. “We don’t know what the timing and substance of any policy changes will be. We therefore don’t know what the effects on the economy will be.”
“We don’t guess, we don’t speculate and we don’t assume,” Powell added.
(NEW YORK) — The price of bitcoin topped $100,000 for the first time ever late Wednesday, and soared to a fresh high in early trading on Thursday.
The new gains extended a rally set off by the election of former President Donald Trump, who is viewed as friendly toward cryptocurrency.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump took credit for the gains: “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!!.”
Since Election Day, the price of bitcoin has climbed nearly 50%. That performance far outpaces the S&P 500, which has risen about 5% over the same period.
But the breakneck pace of bitcoin’s growth poses a quandary for investors: Is it too late to buy into the rally, or will the good times continue to roll?
Investment analysts who spoke with ABC News gave reason to be optimistic about further gains, citing expectations of a friendly regulatory environment under Trump and continued interest rate cuts at the Federal Reserve.
The surge of momentum alone may pull investors from the sidelines, propelling the price of bitcoin higher, they added.
Analysts, however, warned that bitcoin remains a highly volatile asset, making it all but impossible to predict where its price will go next.
“Bitcoin clearly has some things going in its favor,” said Mark Hamrick, Washington bureau chief and senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com.
“The problem with bitcoin is that it’s unclear what drives the underlying fundamentals of the asset,” Hamrick added. “If somebody were to ask me where bitcoin is going in the next week, month or year, I have no idea.”
At least for now, bitcoin is on a tear. The latest surge coincided with a piece of good news for the crypto industry: Trump’s nomination on Wednesday of Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Atkins, the CEO of consulting firm Patomak Partners, serves as co-chair of the Token Alliance, a cryptocurrency advocacy organization.
Once a crypto critic, Trump has vowed to bolster the cryptocurrency sector and ease regulations enforced by the Biden administration. Trump has also promised to establish the federal government’s first National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
The positive developments for crypto extend well beyond Trump. In recent months, the Fed has cut interest rates and forecasted additional rate cuts to come. In theory, lower rates could ease consumer borrowing costs and drive more investment in bitcoin.
Strong performance this year has also been driven by U.S. approval in January of bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. Bitcoin ETFs allow investors to buy into an asset that tracks the price movement of bitcoin, while avoiding the inconvenience and risk of purchasing the crypto coin itself.
Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro, said those favorable conditions for bitcoin are likely to persist.
“Those same catalysts have the longer-term picture still looking bright for bitcoin,” Kenwell told ABC News in a statement.
Still, experts offered up warnings about the volatility of bitcoin. Even amid its meteoric rise this year, bitcoin experienced a temporary downswing that slashed one-third of its value, Kenwell noted.
As recently as 2021, bitcoin suffered a downturn that cut its value in half. The same thing happened a year earlier, when the initial outset of the pandemic triggered a panic among investors.
Bitcoin has proven sensitive to negative developments for crypto and the wider market in part because it is difficult to peg the value of the asset, Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told ABC News.
Stock investors typically assess the value of a company’s shares by evaluating its service or product. Since bitcoin isn’t currently used as anything besides a store of value, the lack of a clear utility leaves little basis for assessing bitcoin’s value, which contributes to its volatile price movements, Sosnick added.
“Bitcoin isn’t really used in the real world,” Sosnick said, noting the asset could still move higher nevertheless.
“Right now, the public is very enamored with bitcoin,” Sosnick said. “It’s foolish to say that any number – whether it’s $75,000 or $100,000 or anything – is the end of the rise.”
(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court on Friday rejected TikTok’s bid to overturn a law banning the platform unless the company finds a new owner. The defeat moves the app closer to a U.S. ban, which is set to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025.
TikTok had challenged the law on First Amendment grounds, arguing that a potential ban would deny American users access to a popular venue for public expression. Attorneys for the company also disputed claims that the app poses a national security risk.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against the app, which boasts more than 170 million U.S. users.
The China-based app has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and the app could be weaponized by China to spread misinformation. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has denied those claims.
In its ruling, the court found merit in security concerns about potential data collection or content manipulation undertaken by the Chinese government, referring to it by its formal name as the People’s Republic of China, or PRC.
Each of those two concerns “constitutes an independently compelling national security interest,” the court opinion said. The court cited previous instances in which the Chinese government pursued data, noting the government’s use of relationships with Chinese-owned businesses.
In a statement to ABC News on Friday, TikTok urged the Supreme Court to overrule the decision.
“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” TikTok said.
“The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025,” the company added.
There is little evidence that TikTok has shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or that the Chinese government has asked the app to do so, cybersecurity experts previously told ABC News.
President-elect Donald Trump has voiced opposition to a potential ban of TikTok. The president is expected to try to stop the ban of TikTok after he takes office, The Washington Post reported last month, citing people familiar with his views on the matter.
The most straightforward way to reverse the policy would be a repeal of the law that enacted the ban in the first place, experts previously told ABC News.
A repeal would require passage in both houses of Congress, landing the measure on Trump’s desk for his signature.
Trump may encounter difficulty gaining support for repeal of the measure among lawmakers, however.
Congress voted in favor of the ban earlier this year. In the House of Representatives, the ban passed by an overwhelming margin of 352-65. In the Senate, 79 members voted in favor of the measure, while 18 opposed and 3 abstained.
