The primary currency hit a new all-time high on Wednesday, breaching a psychological barrier $100,000 and then rose even higher. The surge comes amid a more bullish atmosphere in the crypto industry, which expects the election of Donald Trump to ease regulation and increase blockchain innovation in the US
Bitcoin breached the $100,000 mark around 9:30 PM ET and continued to rally late Wednesday, trading around $103,600 before giving up some of those gains. Bitcoin was trading around $103,000 at midnight EST.
Crypto markets are notoriously volatile and, unlike the stock market, it is difficult to determine an exact price as there are slight variations between different exchanges. Bitcoin traded above $100,000 on every exchange overnight Wednesday, while other cryptocurrencies also soared.
The price of so-called altcoins also soared, with blockchain tokens such as Ethereum and Dogecoin up around 7%. However, unlike the earlier phases of crypto, the Bitcoin rally did not lift all coins.
Solana, Ethereum’s main competitor, has largely remained flat. Meanwhile, blockchain firm Ripple’s XRP tokens fell by about 10% — a drop that followed XRP got up a remarkable 65% or so in the last week.
A new record high for Bitcoin was reached on the same day President-elect Donald Trump announced it elected Paul Atkinslibertarian and former regulator, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The crypto market reacted with joy to the proposed appointment of Atkins. Atkins is slated to succeed current SEC chairman Gary Gensler, an ally of progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is staunchly opposed to cryptography and scorned by blockchain executives and many in the broader financial community for his aggressive regulatory strategy.
More broadly, the crypto market has been buoyed by the massive popularity of new ETFs launched by the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity, which gave conservative investors the option to buy bitcoins as stocks.
Bitcoin’s latest all-time high came amid a new crypto bull market that gained momentum earlier this year, when Bitcoin was trading around $42,000.
The current cenomania comes as crypto is in the midst of its fourth major bull run. Launched in 2009, Bitcoin—the original cryptocurrency—traded for pennies in its early years before its first major breakthrough in 2013, when it topped $1,000. In subsequent boom periods, Bitcoin reached an all-time high just below $20,000 in 2017 before reaching a new high of around $65,000 in 2021.
