The crypto market entered 2025 with optimism after President Trump promised to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world. After a period of regulatory uncertainty under the previous administration, Trump’s return to office brought high expectations that clearer rules and mainstream acceptance would fuel a sustained rally.
More than a year later, major digital assets like bitcoin are trading lower than when Trump got elected for a second term. Altcoins have not been spared either. At one point, bitcoin fell to as low as about $60,000 from all-time highs of $126,000 in 2025, per CoinDesk. So what happened? Here’s how Trump’s crypto revolution became what Axios called “a revolt” and what you should be thinking about amid the current downturn.
Trump’s reelection and investors’ optimism about a game-changing era for crypto created excitement, but it also led to rampant speculation. Many investors not only traded crypto. They also borrowed heavily to scoop up even more of them. That leverage magnified both the gains when crypto was skyrocketing and the losses when it began plummeting.
The crypto crash began in Oct 2025, when Trump threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese imports on top of the 30% that was already in place. That scared many investors who ended up selling risky investments, including crypto and stocks. While many other markets have recovered since then, crypto isn’t showing any signs of rebounding any time soon.
Not everyone is ready to call this a crypto crash. Investing expert Dave Levine pointed out that the current market’s price action mostly reflects normal crypto swings.
“Crypto prices have underperformed sectors like gold and AI (artificial intelligence) tech, but it’s not a crypto crash,” he said. “We didn’t have the huge blow-off top, which usually precedes a crash. What we are experiencing is the usual crypto volatility over the last several years.”
“Crypto remains a very speculative investment class with little real value. Many who have invested in bitcoin ETFs thinking it was a legitimate asset class have likely been misled,” said Vince Stanzione, founder of First Information.
His advice for most investors? “There’s no real reason to hold crypto. The argument that it’s an inflation hedge or store of value is questionable. I sleep far better at night holding gold.”
And if you really want to invest in crypto, Stanzione emphasized the focus on risk management. “For those that want to speculate in the short term, then go ahead, but only with a small amount of risk capital,” he added.
