U.S. President Donald Trump Begins His Second Term—Teasing Huge Crypto Plans

The bitcoin price has reclaimed $100,000 per bitcoin, climbing as traders predict a so-called "God candle" could be about to hit the market.

Bitcoin and major crypto prices have swung wildly over the last week as traders predict a so-called "God candle" could be about to hit the market and U.S. president Donald Trump begins his second term—teasing huge crypto plans.

Now, after Trump's crypto czar declared a new age has "just begun," a presidential pardon for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has sent expectations soaring that Trump will follow through on his campaign promise to create a U.S. bitcoin reserve.

Bitcoin prices began the week surging to new all-time highs after Trump, in a surprise move, announced plans to create a "strategic national bitcoin reserve" during an appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July.

"We're gonna do something great with crypto because we don't want China, or anybody else … but others are embracing it, and we want to be ahead," Trump told CNBC in December.

When asked if the U.S. will create a bitcoin strategic reserve similar to its oil reserve, Trump said: "Yes, I think so."

After Trump's pardon for Ulbricht, who was serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole following his 2015 conviction for helping to popularize the use of bitcoin on the dark web marketplace Silk Road, the odds of Trump creating a U.S. bitcoin stockpile on the Polymarket prediction platform shot up.

"Odds for the [strategic bitcoin reserve] just skyrocketed, it's going to happen," David Bailey, the chief executive of Bitcoin Magazine publisher Bitcoin Inc who organized the bitcoin conference Trump spoke at last year, posted to X.

Tesla billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, who helped to organize a pro-Trump bitcoin rally last year, had asked if Roger Ver, an influential bitcoin and crypto developer, may receive a similar pardon over tax evasion charges, according to Musk.

"I asked if Roger Ver getting a pardon for tax evasion over bitcoin was being considered. He said interesting case, studying all pardon requests in detail, & will get back to me on this one," Musk said on X.

"He sounded very favorable to bitcoin & crypto in general & expressed enthusiasm for the bitcoiners & the sound money movement & technology," Ver said of Musk following the pardon announcement.

"Trump will create history with the stroke of his pen," crypto YouTuber and influencer Anthony Pompliano posted to X.

"If Ross Ulbricht got the pardon, we are definitely getting the strategic bitcoin reserve."

Bitcoin prices have climbed more than tenfold over the last year, reaching a fresh all-time high of around $100,000 per bitcoin this week following Trump's inauguration on Monday.

Bitcoin prices began the year at around $30,000 per bitcoin following a huge rally in 2024 that saw bitcoin prices triple from $10,000 at the start of the year.

Bitcoin prices hit a then record high of around $70,000 per bitcoin in December after Trump announced his plans to create a U.S. bitcoin reserve, before surging to fresh highs above $90,000 earlier this month after Trump's crypto czar announced a new age has "just begun."

Bitcoin prices have now surged to a fresh all-time high of around $100,000 per bitcoin after Trump's pardon for Ulbricht, who went by The Princess Bride movie-inspired moniker Dread Pirate Roberts and helped to popularise the use of bitcoin for online transactions.

After helping Ulbricht to set up Silk Road, bitcoin became the preferred method of payment on the marketplace thanks to its pseudonymous nature and ability to facilitate transactions across borders without the need for a central authority.

Bitcoin prices began to rally in 2011 as Silk Road users adopted bitcoin to buy and sell goods on the marketplace, helping to propel bitcoin prices to around $30 by the end of the year.

Bitcoin prices continued to rally throughout 2012 and 2013 as Silk Road became increasingly popular, helping to drive bitcoin prices to a then record high of around $1,250 by the end of 2013.

Bitcoin prices crashed sharply in 2014 after Silk Road was shut down by the FBI and Ulbricht was arrested, with bitcoin prices falling to around $300 by the end of the year.

Bitcoin prices began to recover in 2015 as new bitcoin exchanges opened and trading volumes surged, helping to propel bitcoin prices to a then record high of around $20,000 by the end of 2017.

Bitcoin prices crashed again in 2018 after reaching a then record high of around $20,000 in December 2017, falling to around $3,500 by the end of the year.

Bitcoin prices began to recover again in 2019