The last six months have been particularly tough ones for cryptocurrency investors. And the losses that have occurred can make it easy to lose faith in digital coins.
With the Nasdaq index far below where it was when Joe Biden was sworn in as president and the Dow hovering close to that line, we got curious about how Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptos had performed.
Just as with the stock market, there are some winners and some losers, but what’s surprising is the degree. Given the flash crashes we’ve seen in the crypto world recently, you might expect all major tokens to be underwater or close to it. But there are a few winners. And some of them are still well above where they stood at the end of the Trump administration.
For our analysis, we looked at the closing price of the crypto on Jan. 19, 2021—the last trading day before Biden took office—gathering the data from Yahoo! Finance. Here’s how things stand as of 10:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, with current prices grabbed from CoinDesk.
The losers
Bitcoin
No surprise here. Bitcoin has been especially volatile since last November. Before Biden took the oath of office, it stood at $36.002.85. Today, it’s trading around $29,225.95.
Change since Biden took office: -19%
Bitcoin Cash
As Bitcoin has fallen, so too has Bitcoin Cash. In early 2021, it stood at $511.07. These days, it’s trading at $184.30.
Change since Biden took office: -64%
Litecoin
After hitting its all-time high in May 2021 (topping $413), Litecoin fell victim to economic gravity in a hard way. It stood at $153.49 when Biden was inaugurated. Today it’s at $64.22.
Change since Biden took office: -58%
The winners
Ethereum
This popular crypto was just starting its journey in January 2021. And while it’s off its highs, people who invested in January 2021, when it traded for $1,377.30, have no reason to be despondent.
Change since Biden took office: +35%
Solana
Like many other cryptos, Solana is well, well off its highs of November 2021. But in January of that year, it was trading for just $3.64, making it a solid investment a year and a quarter out.
Change since Biden took office: +1,149%
Dogecoin
Dogecoin didn’t really come of age until about four months into the Biden administration, so some gains could be expected. But even as the onetime favorite coin of Elon Musk has plunged from its highs, it’s still in much, much better shape than it was at the start of the Biden administration, when it traded for $0.009098.
Change since Biden took office: +768%
XRP
XRP was coming off of a spike as Biden took office, trading for just over 29 cents. It soared in April, then collapsed like so many other cryptos, but those who held on are still seeing some gains.
Change since Biden took office: +34%
Cardano
Trading at just under 37 cents when Biden was sworn in, Cardano soared as high as $3.10 before plunging back to earth. But it’s still ahead of where it was on Inauguration Day.
Change since Biden took office: +33%
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