Bitcoin Surges 3% on Trump Win While Ethereum and Ripple Slide: The Altcoin Divide of November 9, 2016

The cryptocurrency market witnessed a stark divergence on November 9, 2016, as Donald Trump’s shock presidential victory sent bitcoin soaring while most major altcoins headed in the opposite direction. The event provided one of the clearest early signals that bitcoin’s safe-haven narrative didn’t necessarily extend to the broader digital asset market.

TL;DR

• Bitcoin jumped 3% to $738 overnight following Trump’s election victory
• Ethereum fell roughly 2% to $10.66, Ripple dropped 1% to $0.008
• Gold surged 4% to $1,316, confirming a broader flight to safety
• Mexican peso collapsed 12% as fears of trade disruption intensified
• CryptoCompare CEO Charles Hayter called bitcoin “digital gold” in response

Bitcoin’s Election Night Rally

As election results began trickling in around 2 a.m. London time on November 9, bitcoin quickly started climbing from its recent $700-$709 trading band. The cryptocurrency touched $738 overnight before settling at approximately $726 by Wednesday morning, representing a 3% gain from the previous day’s $708 level.

The rally came amid a broader market upheaval. S&P 500 futures fell 5%, the FTSE and DAX each dropped 5%, and the Nikkei slid 5%. Crude oil fell 3%, and the dollar index weakened 2%. In this environment of widespread uncertainty, bitcoin moved in the same direction as traditional safe-haven assets.

Charles Hayter, CEO and founder of CryptoCompare, described the dynamic clearly: “Bitcoin is yet again acting as a form of digital gold and correlating strongly with the commodity. When there is uncertainty, safe-haven assets see a boost.” He drew parallels with the Brexit vote, noting that bitcoin had experienced a similar upward jolt following that earlier political shock.

Altcoins Tell a Different Story

While bitcoin benefited from the flight to safety, the second and third largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization moved decisively lower. Ethereum, trading at just $10.66, dropped approximately 2% from its previous day levels. Ripple’s XRP, priced at a fraction of a cent at $0.008079, fell roughly 1.7%. Litecoin, often positioned as “silver to bitcoin’s gold,” managed only a modest 0.6% gain to $3.86 — nowhere near bitcoin’s rally.

The data from CoinMarketCap’s November 9 snapshot painted a clear picture of a market that hadn’t yet decided whether altcoins deserved the same safe-haven status as bitcoin. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at roughly $13.2 billion — a figure that seems almost quaint by modern standards — with bitcoin commanding the vast majority of that value at $11.5 billion.

The Safe-Haven Question for Altcoins

The divergence raised a fundamental question that would echo through crypto markets for years to come: could altcoins ever function as true safe-haven assets? On November 9, 2016, the answer appeared to be a resounding no. While gold rose 2.4%, the Japanese yen strengthened nearly 2% against the dollar, and even the Swiss franc gained 0.4%, ethereum and ripple were moving in the wrong direction.

The weakness in altcoins wasn’t limited to the top three by market cap. Monero, despite its privacy-focused narrative that might appeal during times of uncertainty, was down 4.25% on the day at $6.19. Augur’s REP token fell nearly 6% to $4.46. NEM slid almost 5% to $0.003923.

Not every altcoin was in the red, however. Waves posted a respectable 4.7% daily gain to $0.369, and Steem surged nearly 12% to $0.1485. But these were exceptions that proved the rule — the overwhelming majority of the altcoin market was under pressure even as bitcoin rallied.

Why This Matters

The events of November 9, 2016, established a pattern that would repeat throughout cryptocurrency history: bitcoin tends to benefit first from macro uncertainty, with capital flowing into altcoins only after the initial shock subsides. The total crypto market was still tiny — ethereum’s entire market cap was just $914 million — meaning that even modest position adjustments could move prices significantly.

The episode also demonstrated that in late 2016, the cryptocurrency market was still fundamentally a bitcoin market. Altcoins hadn’t yet developed the independent narratives, institutional interest, or trading infrastructure that would later allow them to decouple — even temporarily — from bitcoin’s gravitational pull. The “digital gold” thesis that drove bitcoin higher on election night simply didn’t apply to the rest of the crypto universe at that point in time.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.