UNITED STATES: Bitcoin catapulted above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, a milestone hailed even by sceptics as a coming-of-age for digital assets as investors bet on a friendly U.S. administration to cement the place of crypto currencies in financial markets.
Once it broke $100,000 in Thursday’s Asian morning, boosted by U.S. President-elect Trump’s nomination of pro-crypto Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was soon at an all-time high of $103,619. It was last fetching $102,675, up about 5% on the day.
The total value of the cryptocurrency market has almost doubled over the year so far to hit a record over $3.8 trillion, according to data provider CoinGecko. By comparison, Apple alone is worth about $3.7 trillion.
Bitcoin’s march from the libertarian fringe to Wall Street has minted millionaires ‑ a new asset class ‑ and popularised the concept of “decentralised finance” in a volatile and often controversial period since its creation 16 years ago.
Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is up more than 50% in the four weeks since Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory, which also saw a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers being elected to Congress.
“We’re witnessing a paradigm shift,” said Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of U.S. crypto firm Galaxy Digital. “Bitcoin and the entire digital asset ecosystem are on the brink of entering the financial mainstream ‑ this momentum is fuelled by institutional adoption, advancements in tokenisation and payments, and a clearer regulatory path.”
Trump ‑ who once labelled crypto a scam ‑ embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.
“We were trading basically sideways for about seven months, then immediately after Nov. 5, U.S. investors resumed buying hand-over-fist,” said Joe McCann, CEO and founder of Asymmetric, a Miami digital assets hedge fund.
Bitcoin’s proponents cheered Trump’s nomination of Atkins to the SEC. A former SEC commissioner, Atkins has been involved in crypto policy as co-chair of the Token Alliance, which works to “develop best practices for digital asset issuances and trading platforms,” and the Chamber of Digital Commerce.
“Atkins will offer a new perspective, anchored by a deep understanding of the digital asset ecosystem,” said Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith. “We look forward to working with him … and ushering in – together – a new wave of American crypto innovation.”
A slew of crypto companies including Ripple, Kraken and Circle are also jostling for a seat on Trump’s promised crypto advisory council. ‑Reuters
