ANKARA

US President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office rallied cryptocurrencies, as he set out to make the US the “crypto capital of the world,” leading Bitcoin to reach a historic high of $110,000.

Trump took office on Jan. 20 and tapped some pro-crypto names for his cabinet, namely Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. He appointed Paul Atkins as the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The president named South African billionaire David Sacks the White House AI and crypto czar. Sacks is a close associate of billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump signed a myriad of executive orders on his first day, some of which were related to cryptocurrencies. He instructed the government to encourage the development of cryptocurrencies in the country and to assess the possibility of accumulating a national stockpile of such digital assets.

Trump delivered on his promise to establish “the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the US Digital Asset Stockpile.” He said the reserve would consist of the Bitcoin already held by the federal government, and it would entail no additional costs to taxpayers.

The order said the Bitcoin reserve will include other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, Ripple, Solana, and Cardano, later down the line.

Trump hosted a “Digital Asset Summit” with key people in the crypto market, executives, and investors, revealing that the federal government holds 200,000 Bitcoins, which formed the new reserve. He also said he would support the efforts of Members of Congress who strive for legislation related to digital assets.

Before that, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency, the Official Trump (TRUMP), shortly after taking office and said he would dine with the largest investors to get them to invest in the coin in May.

Trump has a financial venture called World Liberty Finance, run via his companies and the Trump family.

Trump’s pro-crypto influence on crypto market

Trump’s pro-crypto approach to the crypto ecosystem influenced regulatory decisions, as the SEC dismissed lawsuits against Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood -- which are crypto exchanges -- and crypto firms Consensys and OpenSea.

Other states are also introducing bills to establish their own strategic Bitcoin reserves, with Arizona leading the cause.

However, despite these positive developments in the crypto market with the second Trump administration, prices saw records but could not sustain them.

Bitcoin broke over $109,000 after Trump took office but fell below $75,000 over time.

Ethereum -- the second-largest cryptocurrency -- fell from $3,900 to $1,400. Other altcoins had losses of over 50% at the same time.

Trump’s tariffs and the US-China trade wars, global uncertainties that arise from them, and ever-rising recession risks have also been influential on the short-lived record-breaking course the cryptocurrencies led.