Bitcoin has breached $US100,000 for the first time, surging to its highest price in history after US President-elect Donald Trump nominated a cryptocurrency advocate to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), America’s financial markets regulator.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has soared in value by more than 40 per cent in just four weeks, buoyed by the victory of Trump, who has promised to “end [President] Joe Biden’s war on crypto” and usher in pro-crypto regulations.
About 2pm AEDT on Thursday, bitcoin crossed the $US100,000 mark, hitting a new peak of $US100,027 ($155,520). And it kept rallying, trading at $US102,696 at 2.33pm on Bitstamp.
Bitcoin has been turbocharged since Donald Trump’s re-election.Credit: Bloomberg
The crypto sector outspent oil companies, banks and Elon Musk on the US election, and is hoping that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will become mainstream financial products after once being dismissed as a fad.
“The sky is the limit for bitcoin now,” said Jason Titman, the chief executive of Australian crypto brokerage Swyftx.
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“We started the year with BlackRock and other large investment funds entering the crypto market. We’ve ended it on the verge of sensible regulation in the US. You could not have sat down and scripted a better scenario.
“There is a sense of euphoria among local investors right now ... This is a momentum rally. Pure and simple.
“Local spot volumes are running at mid-pandemic levels and [Trump’s] nomination of Paul Atkins as SEC chair has just added to the sense of a carnival atmosphere.”