Bitcoin surged on Wednesday, continuing its overnight rebound after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under President Donald Trump, announced it was preparing a new regulatory framework for crypto.
This news boosted confidence that Trump would fulfill his promises of crypto-friendly regulation, driving gains across the sector. The President’s recently-launched memecoin, $TRUMP, also saw an increase, though it remained well below its post-launch peak.
Crypto markets initially declined following Trump’s inauguration, as the 47th President made no mention of crypto in the executive orders issued on his first day in office.
Bitcoin rose 4.3%, reaching $105,683.7 by 01:01 ET (06:01 GMT). The cryptocurrency had hit a record high of over $109,000 just before Trump’s inauguration but was unable to sustain those levels.
SEC unveils crypto task force to draft regulation The SEC, led by acting Chair Mark Uyeda, appointed by Trump, announced on Tuesday the creation of a task force to draft a regulatory framework for crypto.
The task force will also collaborate with other agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to draft crypto-related legislation.
Trump is expected to issue executive orders aimed at reducing regulatory hurdles for crypto while promoting the adoption of digital assets.
During his campaign, Trump promised to make America the “crypto capital” of the world.
Under Trump’s leadership, the SEC is anticipated to drop its ongoing lawsuits against major crypto firms, including Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Ripple.
Trump referred to the returns from $TRUMP as “peanuts.”
Trump confirmed his involvement with the recently launched $TRUMP memecoin but dismissed questions about its volatile performance since Friday.
At a White House event, Trump told a reporter he was uncertain about the token’s performance. When asked about the billions in paper gains it had added to his wealth, Trump remarked, “Several billion? That’s peanuts for these guys,” though it wasn’t clear who he was referring to.
While $TRUMP was initially well-received by traders, its volatility, along with the less popular launch of $MELANIA, raised concerns about the ethics of Trump leveraging his influence to benefit from speculative assets.
The broader crypto market also saw increased volatility following the launch of the memecoin.
On Wednesday, $TRUMP surged nearly 28%, reaching $43.068.
Crypto prices rose alongside Bitcoin, with Ether (the second-largest cryptocurrency) increasing by 3.1% to $3,323.10, and XRP rising by 4.5%.
Solana, Cardano, and Polygon saw gains between 5% and 11%, while among memecoins, Dogecoin climbed 9.1%.
