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Bitcoin soared above $100,000 for the first time, extending a dramatic rally as investors bet on greater political and regulatory support from US President-elect Donald Trump.
The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency has risen more than 40 percent since Trump’s election victory in November. The Republican previously promised to make the US “the bitcoin superpower of the world.”
On Wednesday, the former president nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, the main market regulator.
The nomination added further impetus to the surge sparked by the launch of the first equity funds investing in bitcoin in January.
“Interest in (crypto) is almost unstoppable,” said Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered.
The cryptocurrency’s rise above $100,000 marks a dramatic change in the sector’s fortunes from just two years ago, when the collapse of FTX in late 2022 triggered a market crisis and drove up the price bitcoin dropped to just $16,000.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was fined 4.3 billion dollars last year for failing to prevent money laundering, while FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried was jailed for 25 years in March for defrauding customers.
In contrast, crypto executives and traders are now predicting a “golden era” for the industry under the Trump administration, betting that favorable new regulations will unleash a flood of money from big asset managers into the sector.
