Donald Trump takes office as 47th U.S. president, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $109,241

Donald John Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, raising high hopes amongst Americans and people worldwide as Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high of $109,241 on January 20 as Donald Trump takes office. Trump was guided to the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts inside the Capitol Rotunda, which was chosen as a safe location for guests because of severe weather conditions across the northeast seaboard.  Trump, who rode to power for the second time against innumerable odds, toned down the usually soaring oratory of an inaugural statement and delivered a series of brutal and direct vows to the nation. Earlier, he was with now-ex-President Joe Biden from the White House to the Capitoll, bringing both leaders together after a tumultuous campaign period in which Mr Trump defeated Mr Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris.
Apart from winning the popular vote, Mr Trump won the Electoral College votes by 312 to Mrs Harris’ 226, becoming the first U.S. president since Grover Cleveland to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. The new president is expected to start issuing a flurry of executive orders reversing the policies of Mr Biden, and many of the directives will deal with immigration, energy and gender ideology, among others. “Welcome home,” President Biden told President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania, at the White House. Biden and Trump met briefly before taking the presidential limousine together to the Capitol, where the inauguration was held inside.
Ahead of the crypto-friendly president’s inauguration and the launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA issued by Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, Bitcoin surged 5.5 per cent to set a new record, according to the report from Bloomberg. The surge came after Mr Trump and Mrs Melania introduced meme coins over the weekend. $TRUMP briefly reached a market capitalisation of more than $15 billion before falling sharply. The meme coin has disrupted the digital asset market, reducing its influence into bitcoin and smaller tokens and drawing criticism from industry experts. Bitcoin, Ethereum (the second largest cryptocurrency), and XRP surged Monday morning in London as traders counted down the hours before Mr Trump’s officials returned to the White House. Bloomberg News reported that he was considering an exclusive order to deem crypto assets a ‘’national priority’’. Ben El-Baz, CEO of Hashkey Global, said the launch of meme coins by Mr Trump and his team has further fuelled Bitcoin’s rally, as retail traders expect the Republican president to prioritise and reaffirm his commitments to the crypto industry.