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Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time, extending its dramatic rally as investors bet on more political and regulatory support from President-elect Donald Trump.
The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency rose as much as 6.1% to $103,800 on Thursday, up more than 50% since Trump won the November election.
On Wednesday, the former president nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the main market regulator, raising hopes for a more favorable regulatory environment for the industry.
President Trump, who has vowed to make the United States the “world’s Bitcoin superpower,” has appointed Howard Lutnick to head the Commerce Department and Elon Musk to lead cost-cutting efforts, calling it “the world’s Bitcoin superpower.” The company has appointed several crypto enthusiasts to top positions, including co-head of the company. Department of Government Efficiency”. The acronym Doge pays homage to the crypto token Dogecoin, which Musk promoted online and which has soared nearly 150 percent since Election Day.
Atkins’ appointment added further momentum to the stock rally sparked by the launch in January of the first stock market fund to invest in Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin reaching $100,000 is an incredible milestone for our movement,” Chris Marszalek, CEO of exchange Crypto.com, wrote about X. We never doubted it. “We never wavered. And we never stop building.”
The cryptocurrency’s rise above $100,000 marks a dramatic change in the sector’s fortunes from two years ago, when the FTX collapse at the end of 2022 triggered a market crisis that sent Bitcoin prices plummeting to $16,000. It shows.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was fined $4.3 billion last year for failing to prevent money laundering, and FTX chief Sam Bankman Fried was accused of defrauding customers in March. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the crime.
Under current Commissioner Gary Gensler, the SEC has filed a series of lawsuits against many of the largest companies in the crypto industry, including exchanges Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com, payment provider Ripple, and blockchain software company ConsenSys. filed a lawsuit.
Under Gensler’s leadership, 18 percent of the SEC’s tips, complaints, and inquiries were related to cryptocurrencies, but the agency reported 11 He said this in a statement announcing his resignation in September.
Crypto industry executives and traders are now predicting a “golden age” for the industry under the Trump administration, with favorable new regulations leading to a flood of capital from large asset managers into the industry. I’m betting.
“The interest[in cryptocurrencies]is almost unstoppable,” said Jeff Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered.
Bitcoin’s rise has also been fueled by an influx of capital from institutional investors. Exchange-traded funds that invest in cryptocurrencies run by mainstream asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity have attracted billions of dollars since receiving regulatory approval in January.
Capital inflows have accelerated since Trump’s landslide victory, with $4.4 billion inflows since the beginning of November. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF currently has $45 billion in assets.
MicroStrategy, the software group turned Bitcoin investor led by Michael Saylor, also joined in the rally. The company plans to raise $42 billion from stock sales over the next few years to buy Bitcoin. Since the election, it has already raised more than $7 billion through stock and bond sales.
President Trump’s change in policy on cryptocurrencies, which he had previously criticized as a “fraud,” comes after he raised millions of dollars in campaign contributions from major crypto investors.
“This Bitcoin bull market is unlike any other before,” said Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of crypto exchange Gemini. “We have . . . a pro-tech president, a red Senate, a red House, and (a) national referendum mandate to build.”
Additional reporting by William Sandlund