Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, has reached a major milestone by catapulting above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday. This achievement has been hailed by both supporters and skeptics as a coming-of-age for digital assets, as investors bet on a friendly U.S. administration to cement the place of cryptocurrencies in financial markets.
The surge in Bitcoin’s value was boosted by U.S. President-elect Trump’s nomination of pro-crypto Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission. This news caused the cryptocurrency to reach an all-time high of $103,619, a surge of about 6% in just one day. It was last trading at $102,650.
The total value of the cryptocurrency market has almost doubled over the year so far, reaching a record high of just shy of $3.8 trillion, according to data provider CoinGecko. To put this into perspective, Apple alone is worth about $3.7 trillion.
Bitcoin’s journey from the libertarian fringe to Wall Street has created millionaires, a new asset class, and popularized the concept of “decentralized finance” since its creation 16 years ago. This year alone, Bitcoin has more than doubled in value and has seen a 50% increase in just four weeks since Donald Trump’s election victory. This victory also saw a number of pro-crypto lawmakers being elected to Congress.
Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of U.S. crypto firm Galaxy Digital, believes that we are witnessing a paradigm shift. He states, “Bitcoin and the entire digital asset ecosystem are on the brink of entering the financial mainstream – this momentum is fueled by institutional adoption, advancements in tokenization and payments, and a clearer regulatory path.”
During his campaign, Trump showed his support for digital assets by promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of Bitcoin. This news was welcomed by Bitcoin’s proponents, who cheered Trump’s nomination of Atkins to the SEC.
Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, has been involved in crypto policy as co-chair of the Token Alliance and the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, believes that Atkins will offer a new perspective and a deep understanding of the digital asset ecosystem. She states, “We look forward to working with him and ushering in a new wave of American crypto innovation.”
A number of crypto companies, including Ripple, Kraken, and Circle, are also vying for a seat on Trump’s promised crypto advisory council.
Bitcoin has proven to be a survivor through precipitous downturns. Its move into six-figure territory is a remarkable comeback from a dip below $16,000 in 2022 when the industry was reeling from the collapse of the FTX exchange. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was subsequently jailed.
Analysts believe that the growing embrace of Bitcoin by big investors this year has been a driving force behind the record-breaking rally. U.S.-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds were approved in January and have been a conduit for large-scale buying, with more than $4 billion streaming into these funds since the election.
Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, states, “Roughly 3% of the total supply of bitcoins that will ever exist have been purchased in 2024 by institutional money.” He believes that digital assets, as an asset class, are becoming normalized and will soon have a dedicated sales and trading desk alongside other traditional assets like FX, rates, and commodities.
Bitcoin is already becoming increasingly financialized, with the launch of Bitcoin futures in 2017 and a strong debut for options on BlackRock’s ETF in November. Crypto-related stocks have also soared along with the Bitcoin price, with shares in Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings and exchange operator Coinbase each up around 65% in November. Software firm Microstrategy, which has repeatedly raised funds to buy Bitcoin and currently holds around 402,100 bitcoins, has gained around 540% this year.
Even Trump himself has unveiled a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, in September. Billionaire Elon Musk, a major Trump ally, is also a proponent of cryptocurrencies.
Despite criticisms of its massive energy usage and concerns about crypto crime, the cryptocurrency industry continues to thrive. The U.S. and Britain recently announced that they had disrupted a global money laundering ring that used cryptocurrency to help rich Russians evade sanctions and launder cash for
