President Donald Trump's embrace of cryptocurrency helped him build support among digital-asset enthusiasts during the 2024 campaign, but some younger investors who welcomed his industry-friendly message now say their enthusiasm has faded as his own memecoin has plunged at the same time as several of his family's crypto ventures have expanded.
Crypto streamer Carl Runefelt, who has more than 2 million TikTok followers, was among those drawn to Trump's pro-crypto campaign message. He bought additional bitcoin after Trump's election and also purchased some $TRUMP tokens, but told The Washington Post that sentiment toward the president in crypto-focused online communities had changed markedly.
"Trump was the hero in crypto, like, a couple of years ago, and now it's like the exact opposite," Runefelt told the newspaper.
Other crypto investors interviewed by the Washington Post voiced similar frustration, particularly over Trump's memecoin and expectations that his return to the White House would produce stronger gains across digital assets. The newspaper also cited two focus groups of younger independent and moderate voters in which participants questioned Trump's involvement in crypto ventures.
Those interviews represent individual views rather than a measure of opinion across crypto investors or young voters generally. Trump continues to have prominent supporters within the cryptocurrency industry, and his administration has enacted several policies the sector had sought.
Trump launched his official memecoin shortly before taking office in January 2025.
The token reached an all-time high of about $75.35 on Jan. 19, 2025, but was trading around $2.05 on Oct. 1, 2026, according to CoinMarketCap. That puts the token more than 97% below its peak.
Trump-affiliated entities initially retained 800 million of the token's total supply of roughly 1 billion, while approximately 200 million were made available at launch, according to filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission website.
The SEC filing notes that the remaining tokens were subject to an unlocking schedule and warns that memecoins can be highly volatile and derive much of their value from speculation and public sentiment.
Trump formally established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve through a March 2025 White House executive order.
Rather than immediately purchasing large quantities of bitcoin on the open market, the reserve was initially capitalized using bitcoin already held by the federal government through criminal or civil asset-forfeiture proceedings.
The order directed the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop budget-neutral strategies for potentially acquiring additional bitcoin, provided those purchases imposed no incremental cost on taxpayers. It also established a separate Digital Asset Stockpile for other cryptocurrencies obtained through forfeitures.
Trump had pledged to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet," language he repeated after returning to office, according to the White House's digital-assets report.
The administration's crypto record has included measures welcomed by many industry participants.
Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in July 2025, establishing a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The legislation sets requirements for permitted stablecoin issuers, reserves and regulatory oversight, according to the official text published by GovInfo.
The administration has also taken a more favorable regulatory approach toward digital assets than the previous administration.
The White House defended its record in a statement to the Washington Post, saying Trump had given crypto and other technology industries a place in his administration and was working to advance U.S. innovation.
