(Reuters) – Bitcoin rose above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday as the election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. president fueled expectations that his administration would create a favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.
has more than doubled this year and is up about 45% in the four weeks since Trump’s stunning election win, which also saw a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers elected to Congress.
It last traded at $100,027 as of 02:40 GMT, up 2.2% on the previous session after earlier hitting $100,277.
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift. After four years of political purgatory, Bitcoin and the entire ecosystem of digital assets are on the verge of entering the financial mainstream,” said Mike Novagratz, founder and CEO of the American crypto company. Galaxy Digital (TSX:).
“This momentum is fueled by institutional adoption, advances in tokenization and payments, and a clearer regulatory path.”
More than 16 years after its inception, Bitcoin is on the verge of widespread acceptance, despite its skeptics and history of controversy.
“Bitcoin Passing $100,000 Is More Than Just A Milestone; it shows changes in finance, technology and geopolitics,” said Justin D’Anetton, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong.
“A number that was dismissed as fantasy not so long ago remains a reality.”
During his campaign, Trump embraced the digital asset, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and amass a national bitcoin reserve.
Crypto investors see an end to increased scrutiny by US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who said last week he would step down in January when Trump takes office.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, has been involved in crypto policy as co-chair of the Token Alliance, which works to “develop best practices for digital asset issuance and trading platforms,” and the Chamber of Digital Commerce.
A number of crypto companies, including Kraken and Circle, are vying for a seat on Trump’s promised crypto advisory board, seeking a say in his planned overhaul of US policy, according to several digital asset industry executives.
Trump Enterprises may also have a stake in the sector. In September, he unveiled a new crypto business called World Liberty Financial. Although details about the business were scarce, investors took his personal interest in the sector as a bullish signal.
Trump’s social media campaign is in advanced talks to buy crypto-trading firm Bakkt, the Financial Times reported last week, citing two people familiar with the talks.
Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs Truth Social, is close to buying all of Bakkt, according to an FT report.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a top Trump ally, is also a fan of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin’s rebound from falling below $16,000 in late 2022 has been swift, fueling the approval of US-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January of this year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has long tried to ban ETFs from investing in bitcoin, citing investor protection concerns, but the products have allowed more investors, including institutional investors, to gain access to bitcoin.
Since the election, more than $4 billion has flowed into US-listed exchange-traded funds.
“We traded pretty much sideways for about seven months, and then right after Nov. 5, U.S. investors resumed manual buying,” said Joe McCann, CEO and founder of Asymmetric, a Miami-based digital asset hedge fund.
ETF options BlackRock (NYSE: ) had a strong debut in November, with call options — bets on the price going up — far more popular than puts. McCann calculated a put-call ratio of about 22 to one.
Crypto-related stocks have soared alongside the price of bitcoin, with shares of bitcoin miner MARA Holdings surging about 65% in November.
However, growth is not without its critics.
Two years ago, the industry was engulfed in scandal with the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and the imprisonment of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The cryptocurrency industry has also been criticized for its massive energy consumption, while crypto-crime is also a concern.
Market participants are closely watching what happens now that Bitcoin has broken above $100,000, and investors and speculators may be looking to stake some of their recent gains.
“But once we get those puts out there, it could go even higher and very quickly,” said Stephen McClurg, founder of digital asset investment firm Canary Capital. He said he expects bitcoin to reach $120,000 by Christmas.
