One year of ‘Crypto President’: Bitcoin down 15%, Altcoins crushed by 70-90%

One year into Trump’s presidency, Bitcoin is down ~15%, and Ethereum is down ~8%, while many altcoins are down 70-90%.

While Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have suffered modest losses, major altcoins have suffered declines of 40% to 50%, while smaller assets have collapsed 70% to 90% from Inauguration Day prices.

This precipitous decline presents a complex picture for an industry that had been counting on a “crypto president” to usher in a regulatory dawn and a sustained bull market, forcing a reassessment of political expectations versus market realities.

Market performance is in stark contrast to political promises

A review of price performance on CoinGecko since January 20, 2025 revealed a broad downturn, with data at the time of writing showing Bitcoin is down around 15% over the past year and worth almost $91,000. It hit an all-time high above $126,000 in October 2025, but has since fallen. Ethereum shows a relatively smaller decline, down about 8% year-over-year to almost $3,100, after reaching its own peak of just under $5,000 in August 2025.

However, for other large assets the losses are greater. For example, XRP has fallen almost 40% in the past twelve months and is now trading just under $2.00, while Solana has halved and is down more than 50%, trading around $129.

These numbers only tell part of the story. According to analyst Ted Pillows, the damage extends well beyond large-cap tokens. He declared that other large-cap cryptocurrencies are down 50% to 60%, that mid-cap assets are down 70% to 80%, and that small-cap and meme coins are down about 90% over the same period.

This broad correction occurred despite early market optimism following Trump’s election in November 2024. At the time, Bybit analysts predicted a transformative period with regulatory clarity and a favorable environment for altcoins and DeFi.

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Geopolitics overshadowed regulatory optimism

Over the past twelve months, market reaction has often been influenced by the Trump administration’s trade policies. The president’s repeated threats to impose tariffs on China and the European Union have created volatility and halted Bitcoin’s bullish momentum. To illustrate, consider the recent market liquidations, which totaled roughly $871 million in just one day, following Trump’s confirmation of new tariffs on a number of European countries.

Due to this pattern, the optimistic expectations of early 2025 have not been realized. While Trump appointed pro-crypto officials such as SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, macro events have overshadowed expected regulatory clarity. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse acknowledged in a December 2024 interview that the crypto community had embraced Trump, but the market’s performance since then suggests political support is just one factor among many.