Bitcoin price – live: Donald Trump’s net worth doubles as crypto market soars

Bitcoin’s latest price record above $109,000 marks a 10 per cent surge over the last day. But zooming out, you can see this rally began long before Trump’s meme coin launch – and even before he was in the frame to become the Republican candidate.

The cryptocurrency has risen in value more than 500 per cent since the start of 2023, when the bull market began. It’s still not clear where the eventual peak of this rally will be, but previous cycles offer a warning of where it might go when the price correction kicks in.

The launch of the $TRUMP meme coin the weekend before his inauguration appears to have had a massive impact on the incoming president’s net worth.

Donald Trump’s net worth was around $7 billion (£5.7bn) before the launch of $TRUMP, ranking him in the world’s top 500 richest people – $7.16bn according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $6.7bn according to Forbes.

Neither of the estimations take into account his holdings of the cryptocurrency, which has a current market cap of $10bn.

The website for the $TRUMP project reveals that 80 per cent of the cryptocurrency is held by Trump Organisation affiliate CIC Digital, valuing the stake at $8bn – more than double his current net worth.

Presidential memecoins have already raised – and lost – billions. That isn’t going to stop just yet, experts say.

It’s now been around half a day since Melania launched her “meme”. It’s had a rocky day or so – initially surging, then falling, then surging again and now on a fall – but it’s actually almost back to where it started: it’s up 16 per cent since launch, according to CoinMarketCap.

(Strictly, that shouldn’t matter. The official website refers to it only as a “meme” and says that they are “digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support for and engagement with the values embodied by the symbol MELANIA. and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type”.)

Bitcoin has been busy ever since it became clear that Donald Trump was going to win the election. While it has not always been positive news, it has been volatile since November, and this week marks the latest in that.

At least some of that excitement is because Trump backed cryptocurrency during his run for the president – and has suggested he will make good on that when he takes power. Here’s a look at how bitcoin and crypto could be one of the big winners from the election.

As the incoming president arrives, the overall crypto market has gained half a trillion dollars. Bitcoin is at record highs. And people have invested billions in the memecoins of Trump and his wife.

The excitement in the cryptocurrency market comes as the world prepares for Donald Trump to become president again in just a few hours.

You can find all of our coverage of the inauguration in the live blog below.

…. to The Independent’s live coverage of the cryptocurrency market, which has been sent into a frenzy by Trump’s inauguration – and the launch of his and his wife’s memecoins.