Cryptocurrencies: Trump drives prices up
The crypto industry is thrilled to finally have a crypto enthusiast in the White House. Many coins are close to their all-time highs. Crypto ETNs are being actively traded - sometimes being bought, sometimes being sold.
30 January 2025 FRANKFURT (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). It only briefly shook up the crypto sector: the new AI model from Chinese company DeepSeek, which is extremely powerful and also energy-efficient. After a setback due to increased uncertainty in the tech sector, Bitcoin & Co. started to rise again.
On Thursday morning, Bitcoin is trading at USD 105,440, not far below the all-time high of USD 109,110 reached at the beginning of last week. Some altcoins are also still trading at high levels, while others are still significantly lower than in December. Ripple's price increase is striking, with a five-fold increase since the beginning of 2024. “The events in the first days and weeks of Donald Trump's second presidency are generally creating a good mood and optimism on the market,” explains André Dragosch from crypto ETN issuer Bitwise.
“Trump's campaign rhetoric with a new focus on an 'America First' policy, tax reform and deregulation raised expectations of an economic revival,” notes Dovile Silenskyte from issuer WisdomTree. This has benefited riskier assets. “In addition, potential economic uncertainty and inflation fears increase the attractiveness of Bitcoin as a store of value.”
First crypto decree
The new “$Trump” coin also caused a sensation, as trader Moritz Kretschmann from Lang & Schwarz reports. “The price has gone through the roof.” The coin climbed into the top 20 crypto assets by market capitalization after the start of trading, as Dragosch notes - the fastest rise ever recorded for a new coin. “However, there was profit-taking as a result,” he adds.
During the election campaign, Trump held out the prospect of a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Last Thursday, he signed the first crypto decree. Among other things, this provides for an advisory body for digital assets, including for the development of crypto-friendly laws. The strategic crypto reserve is also to be a topic. The decree met with a mixed response in the industry: some welcomed it, others had hoped for more speed and more concrete measures. Many were surprised that it explicitly refers to a crypto reserve and not a Bitcoin reserve.
However, there is also a growing number of skeptical voices that see overheating - also with a view to the “$Trump” coin. Mark Branson, President of the financial regulator Bafin, also questioned the security of Bitcoin this week: quantum computers could possibly crack data that is securely encrypted today in the future.
Good demand for Bitcoin ETNs
There is a lot going on in crypto ETN trading. According to Ivo Orlemann, who trades ETFs, ETCs and ETNs at ICF Bank, “perennial favorites” such as VanEck Bitcoin (DE000A28M8D0) and WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin (GB00BJYDH287) are sometimes bought, sometimes sold. For Solana ETNs from WisdomTree (GB00BNGJ9G01) and 21Shares (CH1114873776), he reports inflows and outflows, most recently “mostly redemptions”, likewise for the Ripple ETN from 21Shares (CH0454664043). Holger Heinrich from Baader Bank also reports brisk trading, especially in the major currencies. He cites the WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin (GB00BJYDH287), Bitwise Physical Bitcoin ETP (DE000A27Z304) and CoinShares Physical Bitcoin (GB00BLD4ZL17) as examples.
Following sales in December and also in 2024 as a whole, physically backed Bitcoin ETNs were back on buy lists in Europe in January, as WisdomTree reports. However, the global picture had already been different beforehand, with high inflows in December and for the year as a whole.
ETNs on Xetra: mostly about Bitcoin
The largest crypto ETNs on Xetra are Bitwise Physical Bitcoin (DE000A27Z304) and CoinShares Physical Bitcoin (<GB00BLD4ZL17Y>) with €1.2 billion each, followed by 21Shares Solana Staking (CH1114873776) with €1.02 million. In fourth and fifth place are WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin (GB00BJYDH287) and 21Shares Bitcoin (CH0454664001) with EUR 957 million and EUR 794 million respectively.
By Anna-Maria Borse, 30 January 2025, © Deutsche Börse
About the Author
Anna-Maria Borse is a financial and business editor specializing in the financial market/stock exchange and economic topics.
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