Why Is Bitcoin Crashing Under a Pro-Crypto Trump?

Trump promised a crypto revolution. So why is bitcoin crashing?Image Credit: NPR News
Key Points
- •WASHINGTON – The crypto revolution promised by President Trump is facing a harsh reality check. After an exuberant rally fueled by a pro-crypto administration, bitcoin’s value has been slashed nearly in half, rattling investors and testing the sector's newfound political capital.
- •The Promise: President Trump’s 2024 reelection on a platform to make the U.S. "the crypto capital of the world" ignited the market. He appointed industry-friendly regulators and a Republican-led Congress passed supportive legislation.
- •The Surge: From Trump's win in November 2024 to its peak, bitcoin’s value nearly doubled, hitting a record high of approximately $126,000 in October 2025.
- •The Crash: Since that peak, a violent sell-off has erased all of the post-reelection gains. Bitcoin plunged to around $60,000 this week, a stunning reversal that has wiped out hundreds of billions in market value.
- •Rampant Speculation: The prevailing optimism led many traders, from large institutions to retail investors, to borrow heavily to maximize their exposure to rising crypto prices.
Of course. Here is the news article, written in the style of a senior financial correspondent.
Trump promised a crypto revolution. So why is bitcoin crashing?
WASHINGTON – The crypto revolution promised by President Trump is facing a harsh reality check. After an exuberant rally fueled by a pro-crypto administration, bitcoin’s value has been slashed nearly in half, rattling investors and testing the sector's newfound political capital.
The dramatic downturn raises a critical question for a market that bet heavily on a friendly White House: Can political support insulate a notoriously volatile asset class from its own speculative excesses?
The Big Picture
The paradox at the heart of the crypto market is stark. An unprecedentedly favorable regulatory environment was meant to usher in a golden age, but the market has instead delivered a brutal bust.
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The Promise: President Trump’s 2024 reelection on a platform to make the U.S. "the crypto capital of the world" ignited the market. He appointed industry-friendly regulators and a Republican-led Congress passed supportive legislation.
-
The Surge: From Trump's win in November 2024 to its peak, bitcoin’s value nearly doubled, hitting a record high of approximately $126,000 in October 2025.
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The Crash: Since that peak, a violent sell-off has erased all of the post-reelection gains. Bitcoin plunged to around $60,000 this week, a stunning reversal that has wiped out hundreds of billions in market value.
What Happened: A Cascade of Leverage and Fear
The crash wasn't triggered by a regulatory crackdown, but by a classic combination of macroeconomic fears and over-leveraged speculation—a reminder that politics can’t repeal the laws of market gravity.
The Catalyst: Geopolitical Shock
The initial spark came from an unexpected source. On Oct. 10, President Trump’s threat to levy an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese imports sent a shockwave through global markets.
Traders immediately de-risked, dumping speculative assets of all kinds, from emerging market currencies to high-growth stocks and cryptocurrencies.
The Accelerator: The Leverage Trap
While traditional markets like the Dow Jones Industrial Average quickly recovered to post new record highs, the crypto market spiraled downwards. The reason lies in the immense amount of borrowed money—or leverage—that had flooded the system.
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Rampant Speculation: The prevailing optimism led many traders, from large institutions to retail investors, to borrow heavily to maximize their exposure to rising crypto prices.
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Magnified Losses: This leverage acted as a powerful accelerant on the way down. As prices fell, margin calls were triggered, forcing traders to sell their holdings to cover their loans. This forced selling pushed prices even lower.
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Contagion Effect: The wave of liquidations created a contagion effect. Falling prices spooked other investors, who sold to protect their capital, creating a self-reinforcing downward spiral that shook confidence to its core.
For longtime industry observers, the outcome was inevitable. "Bitcoin is anything but safe," says Ben Schiffrin, senior policy director at the consumer finance advocacy group Better Markets. "It's the most speculative asset, and I think people are realizing that that's the case."
A Familiar Pattern: Crypto's Volatile History
This boom-and-bust cycle is a defining feature of crypto’s short but turbulent history. The latest crash is not an anomaly but a continuation of a well-established pattern.
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The 2022 "Crypto Winter": After a pandemic-fueled frenzy, the market entered a deep freeze in 2022. A combination of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and the catastrophic collapse of the FTX exchange sent prices plummeting. Bitcoin fell from about $50,000 to below $20,000 that year.
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The 2018 ICO Bubble: A speculative mania around Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) drove the market to a peak in January 2018, followed by a devastating crash that saw the market lose over 80% of its value over the next year.
In each instance, periods of extreme optimism and easy money led to unsustainable rallies that ended in painful corrections. The market did not truly regain its footing from the 2022 winter until the political tailwinds of Trump's 2024 campaign began to build.
The Road Ahead: Regulatory Tailwinds Persist
Despite the market carnage, the foundational support for the industry in Washington remains firmly in place, offering a glimmer of hope for beleaguered investors. The political and regulatory groundwork laid by the Trump administration has not been undone.
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Friendly Leadership: The appointment of Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner with a history of consulting for crypto firms, as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, places a key ally in charge of the nation's top markets regulator.
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Legislative Wins: The crypto industry’s massive lobbying effort in 2024—spending hundreds of millions to elect friendly lawmakers—paid off with the passage of the country's first major crypto legislation. The bill establishes a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins, a critical piece of market infrastructure.
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Unfinished Business: While a second, more comprehensive bill to determine broader jurisdictional lines between regulators has stalled in the Senate, the industry continues to push for its passage, believing it will provide long-term clarity and legitimacy.
The Bottom Line
The current crash serves as a powerful reminder of the deep division between crypto's political aspirations and its market reality.
While the Trump administration has delivered a sea change in regulatory posture, it cannot eliminate the inherent volatility and speculative nature of the asset class. The "crypto revolution" is now facing its first major test under its political champions. The long-term trajectory of the industry will depend on whether the structural support being built in Washington can ultimately tame the market's wild boom-and-bust cycles.
Source: NPR News
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