Bitcoin surges over $100,000: WP reveals the reason
Photo: Trump's decision influenced the rise of Bitcoin (Getty Images)
Bitcoin, the most expensive cryptocurrency, broke its historical maximum on the night of December 5. The price exceeded $100,000 per coin, reports The Washington Post.
This milestone marks a 42% increase since November 5, 2024, when the US presidential elections took place, and Donald Trump won. On that same day, the price fluctuated around $70,000 per coin.
Today’s record was set after Trump announced on Wednesday that he would appoint Paul Atkins, a former federal regulator who now consults for financial and cryptocurrency companies, as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On the same day, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell compared the digital asset to gold at the DealBook summit hosted by The New York Times.
“People use Bitcoin as a speculative asset. It’s like gold, it’s just like gold, only it’s virtual, it’s digital. People are not using it as a form of payment or a store of value. It’s highly volatile. It’s not a competitor for the dollar; it’s really a competitor for gold,” he said.
Crypto analyst Brett Knoblauch from Cantor Fitzgerald wrote that Bitcoin has faced "countless" failures since its launch in 2009. The most recent one occurred after the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022. He attributed the current rise to "positive sentiment" caused by Trump’s victory.
“The outgoing administration has been notoriously negative towards the digital asset community. With the new administration coming in with a view of working with and partnering with the community, it’s tough to underestimate just how important that is,” Knoblauch said.
The Washington Post reminds that during his election campaign, Trump promised to ease regulation of the crypto industry, telling supporters of the emerging sector that he would turn the US into the “crypto capital of the planet.”
Now, the elected president is considering appointing industry supporters to key regulatory positions, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Trump and his sons have also launched their own crypto venture.
