Bitcoin rose above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday after the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, raising hopes that his administration will create a favorable regulatory environment for the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is up nearly 45% in the four weeks since Trump’s sweeping election victory, which saw several pro-crypto lawmakers elected to Congress.
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift. After four years of political purgatory, Bitcoin and the entire digital asset ecosystem are on the verge of entering the financial mainstream,” said Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of US crypto firm Galaxy Digital.
“This momentum is driven by institutional adoption, progress in tokenization and payments, and a clear regulatory path forward.”
More than 16 years after its creation, Bitcoin appears to be on the cusp of mainstream acceptance, despite a history of detractors and controversies.
“Bitcoin crossing $100,000 is more than a milestone; it’s a testament to shifts in finance, technology, and geopolitics,” said Justin D’Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.
“The data that was dismissed as fiction some time ago has turned out to be a reality.”
Trump embraced the digital asset during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and amassing a national reserve of Bitcoin.
Crypto investors are eyeing an end to increased scrutiny under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who said last week he would step down when Trump takes office in January.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, has been involved in crypto policy as co-chair of the Token Alliance, which works to “develop best practices for digital asset issuance and trading platforms,” and the Chamber of Digital Commerce .
According to multiple digital asset industry executives, several crypto companies including Ripple, Kraken and Circle are competing for a seat on Trump’s promised crypto advisory council, seeking a stake in his planned overhaul of US policy. Are.
Trump’s businesses may also have a stake in this sector. He unveiled a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, in September. Although details about the business are scarce, investors have taken his personal interest in the sector as a bullish sign.
Trump’s social media company is in advanced talks to buy crypto trading firm Bakkt, the Financial Times reported last week, citing two people with knowledge of the talks.
Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, is close to an all-stock acquisition of Bakkt, the FT reports.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a key Trump ally, is also a supporter of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin’s rally from a late-2022 low below $16,000 has been bullish, boosted by the approval of a US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in January this year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission had long attempted to block ETFs from investing in Bitcoin, citing investor protection concerns, but the products have allowed more investors, including institutional investors, to gain exposure to Bitcoin.
More than $4 billion has flowed into US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds since the election.
“We were basically trading sideways for about seven months, then shortly after November 5, US investors started buying hand-over-fist again,” said Joe McCann, CEO and founder of Asymmetric, a Miami digital asset hedge fund. Started from.”
November had a strong start for options, with call options on BlackRock’s ETFs – bets on the price going up – being significantly more popular than puts. McCann calculated the put to call ratio at approximately 22 to one.
Crypto-related stocks have soared along with the price of Bitcoin, with shares of Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings rising nearly 65% in November.
Yet this growth is not without critics.
Two years ago, the industry was devastated by scandal with the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and the jailing of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The cryptocurrency industry has also been criticized for its massive energy usage, while crypto crime also remains a concern.
Market participants are keeping a close eye on what happens now that Bitcoin has broken above $100,000, with investors and speculators possibly looking to pocket some of their recent gains.
“But once we eliminate those sell orders, it could go even higher and much faster,” said Steven McClurg, founder of digital asset investment firm Canary Capital. He said he expects the price of Bitcoin to reach $120,000 by Christmas.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)