Crypto and meme coin prices keep surging after Donald Trump’s election victory. Here are 2 likely reasons why

In the nearly week since Donald Trump decisively won the 2024 presidential election, crypto prices have surged. In the past five days alone, many popular cryptocurrencies have jumped by anywhere from 8% to almost 50%.

Bitcoin (BTC), for example, has been up 8.6% over the past five days as of the time of this writing. It’s now trading at an all-time high of nearly $82,000 per coin. Ethereum (ETH) is up almost 17% in the same time. Solana (SOL) is up nearly 17% as well.

Meme coins are also rising: Shiba Inu (SHIB) is up nearly 38% in the past five days and Dogecoin (DOGE) is up a staggering 49% in the same period.

Why is crypto surging so much after Trump’s win? Here are two likely reasons

A very crypto-friendly Trump administration

Traditionally, both Democrats and Republicans have been wary of cryptocurrencies for myriad reasons, including their ability to facilitate payment for illegal activities and the threat they could pose to the country’s fiat currency and the supremacy of the U.S. dollar.

But in the past year, Republicans have been changing their tune on crypto—especially Republicans in line with Trump’s worldview. Trump had previously been, if not resistant to crypto, at least noncommittal. But during this presidential campaign, he embraced the digital assets, perhaps in an effort to gain support from both the tech industry and young investors, particularly young males, who are invested in cryptocurrencies.

Trump courted these voters by positioning himself as a pro-crypto candidate. As noted by CNBC, in August, Trump posted a video to X in which he said, “This afternoon, I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet. They want to choke you. They want to choke you out of business. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Who is the “they” that wants to choke crypto investors? That’s anyone’s guess. (Perhaps Trump was talking about Democrats or regulators.) But Trump’s message for crypto investors was clear: He wants to be the crypto president.

So it’s no wonder that cryptocurrencies rose after his surprise but decisive victory last week. The Republicans gaining control of the Senate and possibly the House is also likely contributing to the excitement. The party that now positions itself as pro-crypto could control all of Congress and the White House, enabling the passage of favorable crypto legislation quite easily.

The Elon Musk factor

However, an incoming Trump administration isn’t the only likely reason for the rise of the crypto markets. Another factor, though perhaps one with a lesser influence, is that Elon Musk seems to be in a position to have significant sway with the president-elect, particularly on technology issues.

While no official announcements have been made, it’s likely Musk will play at least an advisory role in the Trump administration. That role could impact policy decisions, including those surrounding cryptocurrency. While Musk himself hasn’t started a coin, he has been a big supporter of cryptocurrencies in the past, including the meme coin Dogecoin.

In other words, the richest man in the world, who is crypto-friendly, has the incoming crypto-friendly president’s ear—and cryptocurrency investors seem to think that only good things can come from that.