$BTC Bitcoin has hit new all-time highs as President-elect Donald Trump secured victory in the 2024 United States presidential election.
Set to return to the White House after departing in January 2021, Trump now appears to be bringing a pro-crypto stance with him. His campaign made several pledges in support of the cryptocurrency sector, marking a difference with the previous administration.
As Trump prepares to resume office, Cointelegraph looks back on how the cryptocurrency landscape appeared during his last term. The industry has seen major shifts since then — half of the top 10 coins from his previous term have fallen out of the rankings.
Here’s a look at how the top 10 cryptocurrencies from Trump’s last presidency are faring today.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin price Jan. 20, 2021: $35,302.18
Bitcoin price Nov. 11, 2024: $82,379.60
Since Trump’s last White House stint, Bitcoin has gone through more twists than the president-elect’s path to election victory. First, there was an all-time high of about $67,000 in November 2021. Then came FTX — the seismic crash of November 2022 that took Bitcoin down to $17,000 and left everyone wondering if the ride was over
Fast forward through a bear market for both Bitcoin (BTC) and the global economy, with BTC dragging its feet through most of it.
Still, like any good comeback story, Bitcoin rebounded in 2024 as it became accessible to institutions on the US stock market through those shiny new spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
With analysts’ eyes glued to the $100,000 mark as Trump’s victory signals the beginning of the end for crypto’s supervillain, Gary Gensler at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the asset has already smashed past the $82,000 mark.
In addition, Bitcoin now hosts digital trinkets like Ordinals (an iteration of non-fungible tokens) and some of the internet’s favorite memecoins through Runes. So while Bitcoin remains the gold-standard crypto in the age of Trump 2.0, it’s also found some new ways to keep itself interesting along the way.
From undisputed king to layer-2 lab rat
Ether price Jan. 20, 2021: $1,361.05
Ether price Nov. 11, 2024: $3,175.47
Ether (ETH) was the undisputed monarch of smart contracts, reigning over a kingdom of decentralized applications. Now the crown isn’t quite as secure and the network has some serious competition.
Solana, the fast, flashy upstart is now ranked fourth by market cap, taking the lead among the “Ethereum killer” blockchains.
Ethereum, however, has chosen a different route to stay relevant. Rather than battling it out for raw speed, it opted to expand with layer-2 solutions. This has helped ease the infamous congestion and sky-high fees, but there’s a cost.
These layer-2 networks have drained liquidity and fragmented Ethereum’s ecosystem, transforming its once-unified realm into a sprawling collection of mini-kingdoms.
In its quest to evolve, Ethereum also went green with The Merge in September 2022, swapping out proof-of-work for a more eco-friendly proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
The upgrade slashed Ethereum’s energy use by 99% and set the stage for future scalability tweaks like sharding. The crypto world applauded, and it was a big step for Ethereum’s sustainability, though it didn’t come with the explosive price surge some investors anticipated.
And while Bitcoin has been busy breaking records, Ethereum was left in the dust despite listing spot ETFs of its own. For now, Ethereum is still hanging on to its No. 2 spot, but simply being a legacy brand might not be enough to keep the crown.
Ignoring the haters
In the wake of the Terra-Luna collapse—an implosion that rattled faith in algorithmic stablecoins everywhere—Tether’s USDT has not only weathered the storm but emerged stronger than ever. Now the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, USDT’s valuation has ballooned to about $120 billion.
Despite raking in a net profit of $2.5 billion in the third quarter, bringing 2024’s total to $7.7 billion, the company still hasn’t undergone a full, comprehensive audit. Instead, Tether provides regular attestations.
So, what’s driving this profit parade? US Treasury Bills, mostly. Tether’s reserves now claim a comfortable $6 billion buffer, with $102.5 billion in Treasury Bills, making Uncle Sam’s debt Tether’s golden goose.
But with great profits come great questions. Without a formal audit, many are left wondering if Tether’s vaults are as solid as they claim. Tether may be the titan, but trust is still the currency that matters most.
From contender to rebuilder
Polkadot price Jan. 20, 2021: $15.94
Polkadot price Nov. 11, 2024: $5.13
Back in Trump’s last term, Polkadot (DOT) was riding high. With a market value of $17 per token and the fourth spot in the crypto rankings, it looked poised to become the bridge across blockchain ecosystems, promising a future of seamless crosschain communication. In 2024, though, Polkadot’s shine has dulled — a $4.10 price tag and a drop to the 21st spot by market cap.
Polkadot is no longer a top 10 crypto. Source: Logan Saether
Still, Polkadot is not waving a white flag. This year, it rolled out Agile Coretime, a new system letting developers buy processing time directly on its core layer. It’s part of the Polkadot 2.0 upgrade, a major pivot from the old auction model.
With the introduction of “inscriptions” — a playful nod to Bitcoin’s Ordinals — Polkadot smashed transaction records in December 2023, clocking in over 17 million transactions.
Still, Polkadot’s got a tough crowd to impress. Ethereum and Solana have cemented themselves as powerhouses in decentralized finance (DeFi), with other advanced chains nipping at their heels.
Clear skies ahead for XRP
XRP price Jan. 20, 2021: $0.285924
XRP price Nov. 11, 2024: $0.581592
XRP held the fifth spot in crypto rankings in January 2021. It has dropped a bit to seventh, but growth has been mostly positive. Its price has jumped from $0.2958 to $0.5355, and its market cap has more than doubled to a cool $30.5 billion. Not bad for a cryptocurrency that’s been through a legal saga intense enough for a courtroom drama series.
Ripple Labs, the San Francisco company that developed technology around the XRP Ledger and advocates for its use in cross-border transactions, scored a partial win in court in 2023.
After years of back-and-forth, the judge ruled that while some private sales of XRP did cross into unregistered securities territory, XRP itself doesn’t qualify as a security. It’s a half-victory for Ripple and a full game-changer for the XRP ecosystem, which has long operated under a regulatory cloud.
Now, with legal uncertainty clearing up, XRP is even being discussed as a candidate for an ETF — alongside up-and-comers like Solana. An XRP ETF could open doors to a more mainstream audience, sparking fresh excitement among investors who’ve weathered the ups and downs. So, while XRP might have slipped a couple of notches in the rankings, its resilience, steady growth and newfound legal clarity hint at the start of an unlikely comeback.
The ’90s band of crypto fighting for a comeback
ADA price Jan. 20, 2021: $0.358738
ADA price Nov. 11, 2024: $0.592937
Back in the last election cycle, Cardano (ADA) was cruising comfortably in the top 10, with a reputation as an “Ethereum killer” and its roots tracing back to an Ethereum co-founder. Today, Cardano is a bit like that band from the ’90s that’s still hanging around the charts, occasionally slipping in and out of the top 10.
Critics love to call it a “ghost chain,” claiming there’s not much building going on and even fewer users to show up. And the numbers do raise an eyebrow: Cardano’s core developer and active user count have dropped.
Cardano’s code commits and core developer count drops. Source: Token Terminal
Yet Cardano isn’t sitting back and letting the doubters have their say. The Chang hard fork, completed in September 2024, ushered in fresh features and scalability upgrades, signaling it’s still got some tricks up its sleeve. The network has also entered the Voltaire phase, aiming for a decentralized governance model where users can participate directly in decision-making.
Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash: The original rebels fighting for relevance
Litecoin price Jan. 20, 2021: $149.80
Litecoin price Nov. 11, 2024: $77.38
Bitcoin Cash price Jan. 20, 2021: $501.72
Bitcoin Cash price Nov. 11, 2021: $438.73
In the early days of crypto, Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) were the champions of “spendable” cryptocurrency — two coins vying to be digital cash for everyday use.
Litecoin, the “lite” version of Bitcoin, offered faster transactions and lower fees, while Bitcoin Cash split off from Bitcoin with a bold promise: to fulfill the original peer-to-peer cash vision of Satoshi Nakamoto by boosting block sizes and reducing fees.
Both coins gained loyal followings and even some merchants, but their paths feel more like nostalgia trips than the revolution they aimed to spark.
In a world where Bitcoin has solidified itself as “digital gold” and newer cryptos offer advanced features like smart contracts and decentralized applications, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash struggle to stand out.
Countries banning crypto payments and regulatory red tape haven’t helped, either. While some small pockets of adoption persist — think cafes in Townsville, Ljubljana, and parts of Buenos Aires — the broad use case for everyday transactions hasn’t materialized.
Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash have both dropped out of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, sitting at the 25th and 19th spots respectively.
Behind the scenes of DeFi
LINK price Jan. 20, 2021: $20.51
LINK price Nov. 11, 2024: $13.99
Chainlink (LINK) isn’t here to be “digital cash” or a “smart contract superstar,” but rather the backbone of the crypto world, quietly holding the DeFi universe together.
While other cryptocurrencies chase headlines and retail hype, Chainlink is hard at work feeding price data, weather forecasts and other real-world information to blockchains that need them. Since Trump’s last term, Chainlink’s role as the go-to oracle service has only solidified, making it the ultimate backstage hero of decentralized finance.
The recent rollout of Chainlink 2.0 added even more muscle to its oracle network. This upgrade introduced decentralized oracle networks, enabling dynamic non-fungible tokens, automated blockchain functions and all kinds of new DeFi magic.
With staking finally available, LINK holders can now secure the network and earn rewards — a long-awaited perk that gives a boost to this data-driven ecosystem. Chainlink is now better equipped for complex tasks, proving that it’s not just reliable but versatile too.
LINK’s price hasn’t enjoyed the same steady rise as its reputation. The token has been buffeted by volatility and competition. New oracle providers have entered the scene, and some DeFi projects are building their own oracles.
Not so stellar
XLM price Jan. 20, 2021: $0.291680
XLM price Nov. 11, 2024: $0.109166
Launched by Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb in 2014, Stellar set out to offer quick, low-cost international transactions, connecting everyone from financial institutions to the unbanked.
Since Trump’s last term, Stellar has made strides in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) arena, particularly with its pilot project in Ukraine to test a digital version of the hryvnia.
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But Stellar’s journey hasn’t been all, well, stellar. The competition in cross-border payments has only ramped up. Governments exploring CBDCs often look toward centralized solutions or established platforms like Ethereum.
Stellar’s XLM token has suffered as the market increasingly tilts toward DeFi-focused chains with high-profile use cases. It’s dropped from the 10th spot to the 35th spot, as of Nov. 8, 2024.
#Solana
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#Etherium #ETH🔥🔥🔥🔥 #NFT #BinanceSquareFamily #Binance

Introduction

The rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has created an entirely new frontier in the digital economy, enabling artists, creators, and collectors to buy, sell, and trade unique digital assets. Behind the surge of NFTs is Ethereum, a blockchain platform that has revolutionized the way NFTs are minted, bought, and sold. Ethereum’s smart contract technology has become the backbone of the NFT ecosystem, providing security, transparency, and decentralization.
This blog explores how Ethereum plays a transformative role in the NFT sales market and what this means for the future of digital ownership and the evolving NFT space.

Contents
1. What Are NFTs and Why Are They Important?
2. Ethereum: The Backbone of the NFT Market
3. How Ethereum's Smart Contracts Power NFT Sales
4. Ethereum’s Scalability and Gas Fees Challenge
5. Ethereum’s Role in the Future of NFTs
6. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

What Are NFTs and Why Are They Important?

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets stored on the blockchain that represent ownership of specific items such as artwork, music, collectibles, and even virtual real estate. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are interchangeable, NFTs cannot be swapped one-to-one because each token has a distinct value and identity.
NFTs have redefined ownership in the digital age by allowing artists and creators to sell their work directly to a global audience without intermediaries. This also enables buyers to purchase verifiable, immutable proof of ownership. NFTs are driving massive sales across various sectors—particularly in art, gaming, and entertainment—making them a game-changer in the digital economy.

Ethereum : The Backbone of the NFT Market

Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain after Bitcoin, is the foundation upon which most NFTs are built. The majority of NFT projects use Ethereum’s blockchain for one simple reason: smart contracts. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum's blockchain can support decentralized applications (dApps) and programmable contracts, making it perfect for creating NFTs.
Ethereum’s ERC-721 token standard, introduced in 2017, is specifically designed for NFTs. This standard enables the creation of non-fungible tokens that can be bought, sold, or transferred just like traditional assets. It ensures the scarcity and uniqueness of NFTs, giving artists, developers, and creators the tools they need to build tokenized digital assets. As a result, Ethereum has become the dominant player in the NFT marketplace, hosting platforms like OpenSea, Rarible, and SuperRare, where billions of dollars' worth of NFTs are traded.

How Ethereum's Smart Contracts Power NFT Sales

One of Ethereum’s biggest contributions to the NFT ecosystem is its use of smart contracts. These are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. Smart contracts eliminate the need for intermediaries, ensuring that the transaction occurs seamlessly between the buyer and seller.
For example, when someone purchases an NFT on an Ethereum-based platform, the smart contract automatically transfers the ownership of the digital asset to the buyer once the payment is made. This automatic transfer of ownership ensures that transactions are secure, transparent, and irreversible, reducing the risk of fraud.
Moreover, smart contracts allow for creator royalties. Whenever an NFT is resold on the secondary market, the original creator can receive a percentage of the sale, ensuring they continue to benefit from the appreciation of their work. This is an important feature that protects artists and creators in the digital space, and it’s one of the main reasons why Ethereum-based platforms dominate the NFT market.

Ethereum’s Scalability and Gas Fees Challenge

While Ethereum has played a significant role in shaping the NFT market, it faces several challenges, particularly around scalability and gas fees.
Gas fees are the transaction costs paid to miners to validate transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. As NFT trading volume has increased, so have the gas fees. These fees can sometimes be prohibitively expensive, particularly during periods of high network congestion. For example, minting an NFT or buying one can cost hundreds of dollars in gas fees, making it difficult for smaller artists and buyers to participate in the market.
Additionally, Ethereum’s current Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism has limitations in terms of transaction speed and scalability. This bottleneck can slow down transactions, affecting the user experience and creating frustration for both buyers and sellers. However, with the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, which will transition the network to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), Ethereum is expected to address these issues by increasing scalability and reducing fees.

Ethereum’s Role in the Future of NFTs

Despite its challenges, Ethereum remains a dominant force in the NFT ecosystem, and its role is expected to expand even further in the future. The Ethereum 2.0 upgrade promises to solve many of the current issues related to scalability and transaction costs, making it even more attractive for NFT creators, buyers, and sellers.
Moreover, Ethereum’s development community is constantly working on new innovations that will enhance the security and functionality of NFTs. Layer 2 solutions like Polygon are already being integrated to reduce gas fees and increase transaction speeds, ensuring that Ethereum can handle a larger volume of transactions without sacrificing efficiency.
In addition to technological upgrades, Ethereum’s decentralized nature ensures that it will continue to be the preferred platform for NFTs. Decentralization ensures that no single entity has control over the network, making it a more secure and transparent option compared to centralized platforms.
Looking forward, Ethereum’s role in the NFT market will likely expand into other sectors, such as gaming, virtual reality, and metaverse applications. Platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox are already using Ethereum to create virtual worlds where users can buy, sell, and trade NFTs representing virtual land, avatars, and in-game assets.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Ethereum’s blockchain has been instrumental in transforming the NFT sales market by offering a secure, transparent, and decentralized platform for the creation and trade of digital assets. With its smart contract functionality, Ethereum allows for seamless and secure transactions, while also providing opportunities for creators to earn royalties on secondary sales. However, challenges such as high gas fees and scalability remain, though these are expected to improve with the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade and the integration of Layer 2 solutions.
As Ethereum continues to innovate, its role in the NFT market will only grow, potentially expanding into new sectors and solidifying its position as the go-to platform for NFT creators and collectors. For investors, artists, and enthusiasts, staying engaged with Ethereum’s developments will be key to thriving in the fast-evolving world of NFTs.
In the end, Ethereum’s transformative impact on the NFT space marks just the beginning of a larger digital revolution that is reshaping the concepts of ownership, creativity, and commerce in the digital world. The future of NFTs and Ethereum is intertwined, and both are set to play a pivotal role in the digital economy for years to come.

Meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency that are based on internet memes and jokes. They are often created as a way to poke fun at the cryptocurrency market and its investors. However, some meme coins have become incredibly popular and have even reached billion-dollar market capitalizations.The most popular meme coin is Dogecoin, which was created in 2013 as a joke based on the popular Doge meme. Dogecoin quickly gained a following on social media and its price skyrocketed in 2021. At its peak, Dogecoin had a market capitalization of over $90 billion.Other popular meme coins include Shiba Inu, Floki Inu, and Dogelon Mars. These coins have also seen their prices skyrocket in recent months.There are a number of reasons why meme coins have become so popular. First, they are often seen as a way to get rich quick. Many people have seen the stories of people who have made millions of dollars from investing in meme coins, and they hope to replicate their success.Second, meme coins are often promoted by celebrities and influencers. This has helped to create a lot of hype and excitement around these coins.Third, meme coins are often seen as a way to rebel against the traditional financial system. Many people believe that the traditional financial system is rigged against them. They see meme coins as a way to get ahead and make money without having to play by the rules of the traditional system.However, there are also a number of risks associated with investing in meme coins. First, meme coins are very volatile. Their prices can go up and down very quickly. This means that investors could lose a lot of money if they invest in meme coins and the price of the coin suddenly drops.Second, meme coins are often scams. There have been a number of cases where people have created meme coins and then abandoned the project, leaving investors with nothing.Third, meme coins are not backed by any real assets. This means that their value is entirely based on speculation. If investors lose interest in meme coins, their prices could plummet.Overall, meme coins are a risky investment. However, they have the potential to be very rewarding for investors who are willing to take on the risk.#meme #Etherium #invest #opbnb #DeFiChallenge Are Meme Coins Here to Stay?It is difficult to say whether meme coins are here to stay. They have been around for a few years now and they have shown no signs of slowing down. However, there is always the possibility that they could fade away in popularity as quickly as they rose.One factor that could determine the future of meme coins is the amount of institutional investment that they receive. If large institutional investors start to invest in meme coins, it could give them a lot of legitimacy and help to boost their prices.Another factor that could determine the future of meme coins is the development of new use cases for them. For example, if meme coins can be used to purchase goods and services, it could help to increase their demand and boost their prices.Overall, the future of meme coins is uncertain. However, they have the potential to become a major force in the cryptocurrency market.