A cartoon image of US President-elect Donald Trump holding a Bitcoin token to mark the cryptocurrency reaching over $100,000 displayed at a Coinhero store in Hong Kong, China, on in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Trump's pick of a crypto proponent to be the next head of the US securities regulator liftedBitcointo $100,000 for the first time as traders warmed to the prospect of relaxed regulations.

Bitcoin held a retreat from a record as traders awaited crypto policy directives from President Donald Trump following his inauguration.

The market was expecting an executive order in support of the digital-asset sector but it didn’t appear in Trump’s blitz of actions on his first day in office. He focused instead on topics such as immigration, trade, energy and TikTok.

The original cryptocurrency changed hands at about $103,800 as of 7:11 a.m. Tuesday in New York. The token hit a peak of $109,241 ahead of Trump’s swearing in before falling back.

Most other digital assets also wavered.

“It’s premature to draw strong conclusions from the absence of an immediate executive order” given that the Trump administration has a range of priorities, said Richard Galvin, co-founder of hedge fund DACM. “Markets have shown resilience, suggesting investors are taking a similar, longer term view.”

Trump tokens

Before the inauguration, Trump and his wife Melania unveiled memecoins that whipsawed the market by diverting flows. Investors later embraced the notion that the move further incentivizes Trump to embrace crypto-friendly policies.

Bloomberg News previously reported that Trump is considering an executive order designating the asset class a “national priority.” Trump became an ardent supporter of the digital-assets industry on the campaign trail, after once having branded Bitcoin a scam. He pledged to make the US the world’s crypto capital and backed the idea of creating a strategic Bitcoin stockpile.

While it’s a surprise that Trump didn’t issue an executive order “praising” crypto, “one should be forthcoming” though it may not be “substantive,” TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a note.

The Trump memecoin traded at about $37, according to figures from CoinMarketCap. It hit an overall market value of more than $15 billion on Sunday but slid below $7.5 billion on Tuesday.

Memecoin criticism

The Trump and Melania memecoins drew criticism from some industry executives, partly over the worry that they risk making crypto look frivolous.

Others took a different view. Ben El-Baz, managing director of HashKey Global, said the tokens debuted by the Republican and his team have further accelerated Bitcoin’s momentum, as retail traders look for his administration to “prioritize and reaffirm his commitment to the crypto industry.”

Memecoins are a kind of cryptocurrency with questionable intrinsic value and high volatility. They rely on social media tailwinds to drive up their price and can slide as quickly as they climb.

An 80% share of the Trump token is owned by a Trump Organization affiliate called CIC Digital LLC, and a related entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC — whose name echoes the words Trump mouthed after a bullet grazed his ear during the campaign trail. Their holdings will be unlocked over a three-year period.

Possible ‘longevity’

According to the website, 200 million of the tokens immediately became available, a supply that will grow to 1 billion over three years. The small print on the website states the token isn’t intended to be an “investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”