'Bought on Rumors, Sold on News'...Bitcoin Declines After Inauguration

Bitcoin hit an all-time high just before Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. President on the 20th (local time) but has been declining since.

According to the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Bitcoin was trading at $102,995 at 4:51 PM Eastern Time (1:51 PM Pacific Time).

This is nearly a 6% drop compared to the morning when it hit an all-time high. It is down 0.82% compared to 24 hours ago.

Bitcoin surged from the $102,500 range to $109,191 in a short period, surpassing the previous all-time high of $108,300 recorded on the 17th of last month, about 10 hours before Trump's inauguration.

Expectations that President Trump would create a cryptocurrency advisory committee through an executive order and stockpile Bitcoin at the national level influenced this.

However, right after the inauguration, it fell to the $100,600 range, showing a weak trend.

U.S. economic media CNBC evaluated this as an event that seemed like 'buying on rumors and selling on news.'

At the same time, Ethereum, the second-largest by market capitalization, rose 2.34% to $3,306, and Ripple rose 0.70% to $3.11.

Solana and Dogecoin were trading at $246 and $0.36, down 7.42% and 4.80%, respectively.

The Official Trump meme coin ($TRUMP) also soared to $74.34 two days after its launch on the 19th but plummeted to $36.6 today.

Gracy Chen, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange BitJet, said, "I don't think the rise in Bitcoin prices is due to the launch of a new meme coin," adding, "If the Trump family coin hadn't been launched, Bitcoin prices would have risen even more."

Joel Kruger, a market strategist at the forex and cryptocurrency platform LMAX Group, predicted, "The new record for Bitcoin has opened up the possibility of rising to $130,000."

Reporter Park Geun-ah twilight1093@wowtv.co.kr