Cryptocurrency speculators kept Bitcoin in sight of the landmark $100,000 level in anticipation of further steps to support the sector by US President-elect Donald Trump.
The digital asset traded at about $96,000 as of 10:23 a.m. Wednesday in New York, following a more than 40% advance since Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory. The Republican plans to undo a Biden administration crackdown on digital assets.
Crypto-friendly candidates are vying to head the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Trump’s transition team has also held discussions over whether to create the first White House post dedicated to digital-asset policy. On Wall Street, there are growing indications of more willingness to engage with the controversial market.
The president-elect has promised to make the US the global home of crypto and even backed the idea of a strategic national Bitcoin reserve, though there are doubts over whether the latter objective is feasible.
A Bitcoin reserve jars with Trump’s “ironclad” view of the US dollar as the world’s linchpin currency, TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a note.
“It is quite possible Trump will still tout a Bitcoin reserve on social media or mention it in a speech,” Seiberg said. “That is distinct from using the significant political capital that would be required to make it happen.”
Crypto supporter Paul Atkins is thought to be a top candidate to replace Gary Gensler as SEC chair. Gensler launched a flurry of enforcement actions over alleged noncompliance and risky practices in the digital-asset sector, which suffered a rout in 2022 that cost investors huge sums.
The price of Bitcoin and other tokens, such as XRP and meme-crowd favorite Dogecoin, earlier diverged markedly in South Korea from prevailing global levels amid a bout of risk aversion due to political turmoil.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law late Tuesday due to a deepening rift with the opposition before rescinding the shock move hours later after a rebuke by parliament. Global markets were caught off guard, and Bitcoin’s price on local exchanges slid below $72,000 at one point on Tuesday.
The overall crypto market has posted a record-breaking surge since Trump became president-elect, rising by about $1.3 trillion, according to tracker CoinGecko. The rally has brought back a flavor of the mania for digital assets last seen during a pandemic-era bubble. Bitcoin on Nov. 22 came to within $300 of breaching $100,000 for the first time before falling back.
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