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.
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.
Atkins’ appointment, along with Trump’s pledge to make the U.S. “the bitcoin superpower of the world,” has electrified the market.
“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.”
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.
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.
