Tesla bull reveals major reason for crypto crash

Pooja Rajkumari

Sat, February 14, 2026 at 6:52 AM GMT+9 2 min read

Bitcoin (BTC) has been struggling to gain a foothold on its price for the past couple of months. At the time of writing, it was hovering near $69,000, a drop of nearly 44% since its peak of $124,000 in October 2025.

But according to popular investor and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, Ross Gerber, the reason for this struggle may not be macro forces alone.

Instead, he points to the explosion of celebrity-backed meme coins as a key driver of fading confidence.

Related: Memecoin mania cools, as Trump token invites greater scrutiny of the sector

Meme coin fatigue sets in

Gerber argues that the launch of Donald Trump and Melania Trump-themed meme coins around his second term’s inauguration in January 2025, followed by a wave of celebrity-endorsed coins, has left retail investors burned and skeptical, Business Insider reported on Feb. 13.

For him, meme coins either resemble rug pulls or collapse so quickly that investors are left with nothing but losses.

Gerber cited the sharp declines in World Liberty Financial Coin (WLFI) and the Melania token (MELANIA), along with the Trump meme coin (TRUMP).

“People dive in and buy this stuff because they buy into the fraud, basically, and then they get burned, and that money doesn’t come back,” Gerber said.

Ever since their launch, as per CoinGecko, TRUMP coin has fallen by 88.3% while MELANIA coin has dropped by 98.4%. Meanwhile, WLFI,

He also pointed to other celebrity-linked tokens, including one launched by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the HAWK coin from internet personality Haliey Welch, as examples of short-lived hype followed by steep declines.

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Meme coins scare traders away

For Gerber, the damage goes beyond individual tokens.

Bitcoin’s rallies have historically depended on new participants entering the market. But when retail investors lose money on meme coins, Gerber explained that many lose confidence in crypto altogether and make their exit.

“It’s extremely difficult for Bitcoin to rally when investors are being scared away from crypto,” he argued.

Gerber also believes the administration’s looser approach to crypto regulation may be contributing to the perception of a less disciplined market environment. This potentially scares away more conservative investors.

Related: 136-year-old investment firm predicts next Bitcoin crash

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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