Bitcoin soared above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, a milestone hailed by even skeptics as a coming period for cryptocurrencies as investors braced for a friendly U.S. administration to stabilize crypto’s place in financial markets. Bet on.
According to data provider CoinGecko, the total value of the cryptocurrency market has nearly doubled year-to-date to a record $3.8 trillion. In comparison, Apple alone is worth about $3.7 trillion.
Bitcoin’s march from the fringes of libertarianism to Wall Street has created millionaires, a new asset class and popularized the concept of “decentralized finance” in a volatile and often controversial era since its creation 16 years ago. is
Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is up more than 50 percent in the four weeks since Donald Trump’s election victory, which has also elected pro-crypto lawmakers to Congress.
Once it breached $100,000 in Thursday’s Asian morning, it soon rose above $103,000 to a high of $103,619, up nearly 6 percent on the day. It was last fetching $101,933.
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift,” said Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of American crypto firm Galaxy Digital.
“Bitcoin and the entire digital asset ecosystem are on the cusp of entering the financial mainstream – a momentum fueled by institutional adoption, advances in tokenization and payments, and a clear regulatory path.”
Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” and amass a national bitcoin reserve.
“We were basically trading for about seven months, then shortly after November 5th, US investors started buying handover fist again,” said Joe McCann, CEO and founder of Asymmetric, a Miami digital asset. Jat Hedge Fund said.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, has been involved in crypto policy as co-chair of the Token Alliance, which “develops best practices for digital asset issuance and trading platforms,” and of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Works for
“Atkins will bring a new perspective through a deep understanding of the digital asset ecosystem,” said Kristen Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association.
“We look forward to working with him… and together – starting a new wave of American crypto innovation.”
Several crypto companies including Ripple, Kraken and Circle are also vying for a seat on Trump’s promised Crypto Advisory Council.
Part of the landscape
Bitcoin has proven to be a survivor through immediate downturns.
It’s a remarkable rebound from a dip below $16,000 in 2022 in the six-figure region when the industry was reeling from the collapse of the FTX exchange. Founder Sam Banksman Freud was later sent to prison.
Analysts say bitcoin’s growing acceptance by major investors this year has been a driving force behind the record-breaking rally.
US-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds were approved in January and have been an avenue for large-scale purchases since the election, with more than $4 billion in these funds.
“About 3 percent of the total supply of bitcoins that will ever exist has been bought by institutional money in 2024,” said Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered.
“Digital assets, as an asset class, are becoming the norm,” he said. “If you fast-forward several years on trading floors, you’ll have a sales and trading desk … sitting with FX and rates and commodities.”
With the launch of bitcoin futures in 2017 and a strong start for options on BlackRock’s ETF in November, it’s already becoming increasingly financial.
Crypto-related stocks have rallied alongside bitcoin’s price, with shares of bitcoin miner MARA Holdings and exchange operator Coinbase rising nearly 65% in November.
Software firm MicroStrategy, which has repeatedly raised funds to buy bitcoin and held a total of about 402,100 bitcoins as of Dec. 1, is up 542 percent this year.
Trump himself unveiled a new crypto business world Liberty Financial in September, though details are scarce and billionaire Elon Musk, a major Trump ally, is also a supporter of cryptocurrencies.
‘Who can forbid’
The cryptocurrency industry has been criticized for its massive energy consumption, while cryptocrime remains a concern, and the underlying technology has yet to change the way money is transferred around the world. A great revolution is to be presented.
Still, as Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out at an investment conference on Wednesday: “Who can forbid? Nobody.” And its longevity is perhaps a testament to some degree of resilience.
“As time goes on, it’s asserting itself as part of the financial landscape,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist and head of investment strategy at AMP in Sydney.
“I find it very difficult to value … it’s anybody’s guess. But there is a momentum aspect to it and the momentum is building at the moment.”