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Cryptocurrencies

Crypto's glow up

A stablecoin bill, presidential meme coins: Crypto is having a moment.

A giant bitcoin looming behind Capitol Hill

Brittany Holloway-Brown, Photos: Getty Images / Adobe Stock

3 min read

It’s hard to find an alternative asset that’s made as much progress going mainstream as bitcoin has this year.

The crypto king has jumped 12.82% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500’s measly gain of 5.38% over the same time period. But the good times started rolling even before the new year. When President Donald Trump got elected in November, the digital asset industry went absolutely bananas at the promise of lighter regulation and an ally in the White House—even if that ally had dubbed crypto a “scam” only a few years prior.

Since then, the GOP has delivered on many of its promises to the industry, including:

  • Trump replaced SEC Chair Gary Gensler with Paul Atkins, a far more crypto-friendly face
  • The SEC has formed a “Crypto 2.0” task force to focus on clear regulation
  • The Senate passed the GENIUS Act, which creates a legal pathway for stablecoin issuers, making the practice—which creates digital versions of stocks—far more mainstream
  • Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and digital asset stockpile

But the mainstream progress for crypto has gone beyond the realm of politics. Traditional Wall Street firms like JPMorgan are now moving into crypto themselves, while retailers like Walmart and Amazon are exploring the possibility of launching their own stablecoins.

The flip side

Some things, however, never change. For every new interesting digital asset venture, it feels like ten worthless meme coins and scams pop up in its place.

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The difference between the degeneracy of the first crypto boom and this one, though, is that meme coins are being pushed by the President of the United States and his immediate family members.

There’s been so many Trump-related projects, it’s hard to keep track of them all. There’s World Liberty Financial, the crypto company founded by Trump and his sons; $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins; and don’t forget the Trump digital trading cards, or the POTUS NFT Collection—must-haves for every investor. While it’s easy to laugh, the profits are no joke: these endeavors have generated roughly $1 billion for Trump, according to Forbes.

The big picture: Crypto has had a big year, and the bulls have been on a high. But keep in mind that most financial advisors still don’t recommend putting crypto into your portfolio—and if they do, they say to only put a small percentage (up to 5% at the most) in blue chip digital assets, like bitcoin and ethereum.

But if you want to invest in Fartcoin, who are we to crush your dream?—LB

Making sense of market moves

Stay up to date on the latest market news with daily analysis of the investing landscape, served up Brew-style.