Crypto's victorious 72 hours

If you’re ever trying to reinvent yourself, just think about how the crypto industry went from being relegated to regulatory limbo, embroiled in scandal, and shunned by Wall Street to getting the full hype treatment from the president himself in just a few short years.

Here’s why crypto bros are doing another victory lap today:

• Trump launched his own meme coin—$Trump—last Friday night, which reached a $72 billion market cap in just two days. On Sunday, Melania launched her own token, which also quickly amassed a $5.5 billion market cap. But some industry insiders are rolling their eyes, fearing that the stunt will undermine crypto’s newfound respectability.
• The SEC, under Trump, is launching a brand new “crypto task force” to develop clear regulations for the industry.
• Retail trading platform eToro is riding the crypto hype and planning to go public via IPO this year.
• TradFi wants in on the action, too—Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told CNBC that the financial services industry will get into crypto payments if regulators let them.

The excitement adds up to another all-time high: Bitcoin hit a new record of $109,350 yesterday shortly before Trump’s inauguration.

Should you buy bitcoin?

If you ask bulls, this is just the beginning of the crypto mania. And they have a point: A lot is going their way right now, setting up blue chip cryptos for more and more mainstream adoption. Some price targets from bitcoin evangelists are as high as multiple millions.

Buyer beware: Crypto’s inherent volatility is rewarding its investors right now, but remember that the pendulum will likely swing back again, even if the asset class is heading higher in the long term. Some prominent crypto investors even warn that a correction could be coming soon.—LB