Bitcoin has given up all of its gains since Trump’s reelection — and then some

Demand for Bitcoin Following President Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election, it was named part of “Trump trade.”“- a way to describe the alignment of top crypto assets with Trump and expectations of more crypto-friendly management and favorable policies.

Those who accompanied them did well – for a time.

But after nearly two years, cryptocurrency traders find themselves back where they started, with Bitcoin trading at a discount compared to the Election Day index. It recently traded at $60,619, about 12.6% below its closing price of about $69,355 on November 5, 2024, the day votes were cast.

One day before Election Day, BTC It closed around $67,793According to CoinGecko data. The next day, it rose to New all-time high above $75,000and Analysts expected higher marks In the following months, he was finally proven right with President Trump’s second inauguration BTC reached higher marks at around $109,000 In January.

Insatiable demand from Bitcoin ETFs, which has grown From approximately $37 billion in assets under management in January 2025 to More than $62 billion At its peak in 2025, it helped push Bitcoin further throughout the first year of Trump’s second term.

Growing Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) trend.driven by Michael Saylor strategyIt also created billions of dollars in demand as publicly traded companies raced to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets. Among those companies is Trump’s Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT), which It added $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities in Julyjust a few months before the top cryptocurrency asset finally reached a high point of $126,080.

But Bitcoin was unable to sustain the massive surge in momentum that carried it from November 2024 to October 2025. Just days after Bitcoin reached its October high, It fell victim to a record $19 billion liquidation wave This set off a downward spiral for the cryptocurrency markets, dropping from over $121,000 to $106,000 in the process.

Bitcoin rebounded briefly, but maintained weakness toward the end of the year, falling further to around $88,000 as the calendar turned. In January 2026, institutional investors fueled the weakness, withdrawing money from Bitcoin ETFs that had grown steadily throughout 2025, generating more than $1.5 billion in net outflows in January alone. According to data from Farside.

Then, macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical risks from the Iran war began to escalate in February, and continue to this day. Increased probability of raising interest rates– Not the cuts that investors had previously expected, which led to increased interest in risky assets.

Even Strategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor, who had previously asked investors to “sell a kidney” ahead of Bitcoin, relented at the end of May. Parting with 32 BTC From his company’s treasury about $2.5 million.

This step, It was telegraphed by Saylor but was still seen as a blow to perceptions About the leading cryptocurrency, it was preceded by a more significant withdrawal BTC sent less than $60,000 Friday for the first time since 2024.

Although Saylor did not comment on whether his company played a role in the economic downturn, he cited what he described as a “recession.” “Historical” capital turnover outside cryptocurrencies And in artificial intelligence – which is evidenced by ETF outflows of more than $4 billion in less than a month – as a main reason for Bitcoin’s decline.

Right now, Bitcoin is down about 52% from its all-time highs where it trades on Saturday, leaving investors wondering about its short-term prospects — and whether Trump’s influence on the cryptocurrency market has waned.

Under Trump, who recently posted that he would do so “Cryptocurrencies never let you down” the The GENIUS Act was signed into law last year, providing regulatory clarity for the adoption of stablecoins. but Bitcoin reserves move at a “deliberate” pace., and The law of clarity—The broader piece of cryptocurrency regulation that the industry has pushed so hard for is still far from the finish line following the committee’s vote in May.