Bitcoin has shattered the $100,000 milestone, riding a wave of investor confidence sparked by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto pivot.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency surged as high as $103,800 on Thursday, marking a 50 per cent rise since Trump’s November election win, prompting cheers from crypto enthusiasts, who have seen their holdings more than double in value this year.
“What an epic milestone,” Anthony Pompliano, a crypto enthusiast and founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management, said in a video posted on X.
“Bitcoin reaching $100k is an incredible milestone for our movement,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. “We never doubted. We never wavered. And we will never stop building.”
The rally intensified after Trump nominated crypto advocate, Paul Atkins, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signaling a shift toward a more favorable regulatory environment.
The latest surge comes after Trump named Paul Atkins, who is viewed as an advocate of looser regulation of digital assets, as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Atkins’ appointment, along with Trump’s pledge to make the U.S. “the bitcoin superpower of the world,” has electrified the market.
In an announcement on Truth Social, Trump described Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners, as a “proven leader for common sense regulations”.
“He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of investors, and that provide capital to make our economy the best in the world. He also recognizes that digital assets and other innovations are crucial to making America greater than ever before,” Trump said.
If confirmed by the US Senate, Atkins, who served as an SEC commissioner under former President George W Bush, would take over from Gary Gensler, who was widely disliked among crypto investors for his aggressive enforcement actions targeting the sector.
Trump’s crypto-friendly administration has also tapped Howard Lutnick for the Commerce Department and Elon Musk to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” humorously dubbed “DOGE” after the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which has soared 150 per cent since election day.
Bitcoin’s stunning growth, much of which has occurred since Trump’s November 5 election win, places the commodity among the top performing assets in 2024.
The digital currency is up more than 130 percent so far this year, far ahead of the S&P 500’s 28 percent gain.
Once a crypto-sceptic who labelled Bitcoin a “scam”, Trump emerged as an enthusiastic advocate of digital assets during his re-election campaign.
The Republican has promised to make the US “the crypto capital of the planet” and establish a “strategic national Bitcoin stockpile”, among other pledges.
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According to Financial Times on Thursday, this surge marks a stark contrast to the sector’s downturn two years ago, when the collapse of FTX and regulatory crackdowns sent Bitcoin plummeting to $16,000.
Now, institutional money is flowing in, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF alone managing $45 billion in assets.
Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, summed up the sentiment: “This bitcoin bull run is different. We have a pro-tech president-elect, a red Senate, a red House, and a mandate from the country to build.”
With $4.4 billion pouring into crypto ETFs since November, and companies like MicroStrategy planning to raise $42 billion for further Bitcoin investments, analysts predict a “golden era” for digital assets under the incoming administration.
Earlier in the first weeks of November, has reportedly Bitcoin smashed through the $80,000 milestone, reaching an all-time high of $81,858 amid post-election optimism in the US, as pro-crypto policies appear more likely under Trump.
Barely three days after, the world’s largest cryptocurrency reached a record high above $90,000.
Notably, Trump’s previous administration leaned heavily towards scepticism regarding digital currencies, but the president-elect has since embraced crypto, pledging to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.”
CNBC noted that Trump had promised to retain “100 per cent of all the Bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires in the future” and to dismiss SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose tenure saw over 100 regulatory actions against crypto firms.
In September, he announced the launch of his own crypto business, World Liberty Financial, along with his three sons.
Bitcoin, which was invented in 2008 by an unidentified person known as Satoshi Nakamoto, has been lauded by its supporters as a way to escape the control of governments and central banks.
