- Bitcoin has doubled this year, up 40% since the US election in November.
- Trump, the pro-crypto Congress, has seen the regulatory clouds clear.
- Crypto-related stocks are rising with the price of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin nearly closed above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, as Republican Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president raised hopes that his administration would create a favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. currencies.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading between $98,000 and $99,000 late afternoon in the United States on Thursday, after briefly touching $99,073.
Bitcoin’s value has more than doubled this year and is up about 40% in the two weeks since Trump was elected the next US president and a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were elected. in Congress.
Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and amass a national stockpile of bitcoin.
Crypto investors are seeing an end to increased scrutiny from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, whom Trump announced he would replace.
Trump also unveiled a new crypto company, World Liberty Financial, in September. Although details about the company are scarce, investors have taken his personal interest in the sector as a bullish signal.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a major Trump ally, is also a supporter of cryptocurrencies.
More than 16 years after its creation, bitcoin seems on the verge of mainstream acceptance.
“Everyone who has purchased Bitcoin at some point in history is currently making a profit,” said Alicia Kao, chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin.
“But those who bought it early, when there were significant obstacles to getting there and the might of global financial and governmental forces were determined to crush it, are the real winners. Not because They are rich, but because they are upright.”
Bitcoin’s rebound from a dip below $16,000 in late 2022 has been rapid, spurred by the approval of US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January this year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has long tried to block ETFs from investing in bitcoin, citing investor protection concerns, but the products have allowed more investors, including institutional investors, to gain exposure to the bitcoin.
Crypto-related stocks soared along with the price of Bitcoin on Thursday.
“Once you hit new highs, you attract a lot of new capital,” said John LaForge, head of real assets strategy at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“It’s like gold in the 1970s, where this new high is in price discovery mode. You don’t know how high it’s going to go,” he said.
However, this increase is not without criticism.
Two years ago, the industry was rocked by scandal with the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and the imprisonment of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The cryptocurrency industry has also been criticized for its energy consumption, with miners under scrutiny due to their potential impact on power grids and greenhouse gas emissions due to their high-energy operations. energy intensity.
Crypto crime also remains a concern, with an analysis by crypto researchers Chainalysis revealing that at least $24.2 billion worth of crypto was sent to illicit wallet addresses last year, including identified addresses as sanctioned or linked to the financing of terrorism and scams.