Bitcoin reached $100,000 for the first time on Wednesday, hitting a new record after President-elect Donald Trump unveiled plans for his administration that are seen as laying the groundwork for pro-crypto policies once he takes office in January.
The leading figure among Trump’s appointees is Paul Atkins, whom Trump plans to appoint as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates cryptocurrencies.
Atkins, a crypto advocate and former SEC commissioner, is expected to regulate cryptocurrency with a lighter touch compared to Gary Gensler, who currently leads the SEC under the Biden administration. Gensler, who aggressively fought for the expansion of the crypto industry in the U.S., is expected to resign on Inauguration Day, according to CNN.
Bitcoin hit the $100,000 mark just hours after Atkins was announced as Trump’s choice to head the SEC.
The new high follows a remarkable rally that began when Trump was predicted to win the presidency on November 6, triggering a $6,000 one-day surge in Bitcoin that took it to a new record above $74,000. A week later, it reached $90,000.
Bitcoin has increased by 130% this year, with the post-election rally accounting for a significant portion of its gains. Its performance has far outpaced the S&P 500, which has risen by 28% over the same period.
Trump, once a crypto skeptic, had called Bitcoin “not money,” describing it as “too volatile and based on air.” However, he made a 180-degree turn in the months leading up to his re-election campaign, aiming to attract younger male voters, who tend to own more crypto than other demographic groups.
In July, Trump headlined the largest crypto convention in Nashville, where he pledged to create a “strategic national bitcoin reserve” and keep bitcoin seized from criminals rather than auctioning it off, which is the current practice.
“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted, and produced in the U.S.,” Trump said.
In September, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial. That same month, he also purchased hamburgers from a Manhattan bar frequented by crypto enthusiasts who used Bitcoin for payment. “History is being made,” he declared.
Moreover, Trump’s media company, which owns Truth Social, is reportedly in talks to acquire the crypto trading platform Bakkt, according to the Financial Times.
“If you like Bitcoin at $100,000, you’ll love it at $1 million,” said Anthony Pompliano, a prominent crypto advocate and founder of Professional Capital Management, an investment firm, in a post on X on Wednesday evening.
Crypto’s Payoff for Trump
The cryptocurrency industry threw its weight behind Trump and the Republican Party during this election cycle, with major super PACs contributing around $131 million to elect pro-crypto candidates in Congressional races.
Trump’s campaign, which began accepting crypto donations in May, raised millions from the movement.
Now, the community that helped cement his victory is supporting a wave of pro-crypto policies, a shift from the past four years under the Biden administration.
Trump seems ready to push forward. In addition to Atkins, he has appointed Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a prominent backer of Tether, the company behind one of the largest crypto assets in the world.
Furthermore, Trump is considering creating the first White House position dedicated solely to cryptocurrency policy.
However, crypto has yet to win over many current financial regulators. For instance, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described Bitcoin as “a speculative asset.”
According to Powell, Bitcoin shares many of the same qualities as gold, which American consumers generally don’t use as their primary form of payment. “It’s not a competitor to the dollar. It’s really a competitor to gold,” he said Wednesday at a conference.
Powell himself, he added, “is not allowed” to own any cryptocurrency.
