Analysis: Despite Trump's efforts, crypto market continues downward spiral

US President Donald Trump's family's cryptocurrency venture raised more than $1 billion last year, adding to tens of millions in revenue from his real estate investments, according to his most recent financial disclosure.

For the cryptocurrency industry, however, Trump's new term has been complex.

Trump's return to the White House was accompanied by a wave of enthusiasm among cryptocurrency investors.

While Trump previously said cryptocurrencies "looked like a scam," he radically changed his stance during the 2024 campaign, promising to turn the United States into the "cryptocurrency capital of the world" and accepting millions in campaign donations from the sector.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency and a bellwether for the sector, broke successive records after Trump's victory.

This surge was driven by the president's promise to open a regulatory path for the industry, which had long complained of being the target of unfair persecution by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, during Joe Biden's administration.

In the year following Election Day 2024, the value of bitcoin soared by more than 80%, reaching an all-time high above $126,000 in October 2025.

Since then, bitcoin has lost all the gains made during the Trump Era - and even more than that.

This week, while the US stock market recorded its best quarter in six years, bitcoin hovered below the US$60,000 mark, accumulating a drop of more than 50% from its peak.

The strong devaluation of bitcoin occurs despite Trump having extended the regulatory "red carpet" for the sector.

Over the past two years, the White House has become a crypto enthusiast, appointing industry-friendly officials to the SEC and proposing a "bitcoin strategic reserve" to support the asset's value.

The president also met with industry leaders at an event at the White House and defended, in Congress, two bipartisan bills supported by the industry, which aim to establish clearer federal guidelines for the issuance and trading of digital assets.

At the same time, the SEC dropped a series of enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies and investors with ties to the Trump family.

Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University, argues that the scenario is like "a double-edged sword." The cryptocurrency sector wants to be seen as legitimate to attract new funding, but there are limits to Trump's efforts to legitimize an industry long associated with fraud.

"The Trump family's ventures have not improved the perception that cryptocurrencies are linked to scams," said Allen.

On Wednesday (1st), Trump downplayed concerns that he was profiting from an industry overseen by his administration, attributing the increase in his wealth to the rise in the stock market.

The White House has systematically denied the existence of a conflict of interest in the president's finances, highlighting that he does not actively participate in the management of his own businesses or investments.

While cryptocurrency prices have struggled recently, Trump's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, raised more than $500 million from token sales last year, according to the latest filing.

His biggest income - $635 million - came from a licensing deal related to his memecoin: which has no intrinsic value and has lost 98% in value since launch, which occurred just before Trump's inauguration.

Cryptocurrencies are forms of decentralized digital money, such as bitcoin and ethereum.

However, this sector - which has existed for around 15 years - has largely operated on the fringes of the traditional financial system: these digital currencies are not yet widely accepted as payment for goods and services, and the value can be volatile.

Historically, bitcoin and other digital assets have tracked the performance of risky assets such as technology company stocks. But for much of the last year, the cryptocurrency market has been in a downward spiral, in part as investors have flocked to the artificial intelligence sector.

The market was also shaken by a change in stance by Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) - a company that accumulated large reserves of bitcoin and which reversed its long-held promise to never sell the cryptocurrency.

Analysts say a recovery may be far from happening.

"The most intense wave of sales appears to be losing momentum, but demand has not yet returned," said Yusuf Fakhro, partner at ARP Digital - an infrastructure company for the cryptocurrency sector - in a statement released this week.

He predicts that the market is heading towards a "gradual decline" scenario.

The devaluation, which has lasted for months, highlights the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies, assets that, as a rule, do not constitute a reliable store of value when compared to the US dollar or other government-backed currencies.

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Source: CNN