Bitcoin surges to record high as Trump picks SEC chair seen as being pro-crypto

 

Bitcoin hit $100,000 for the first time on Wednesday, surging to a new record after President-elect Donald Trump unveiled administration picks seen as holding the keys to ushering in crypto-friendly policies when he takes office in January.

Chief among the picks is Paul Atkins, whom Trump intends to nominate to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates cryptocurrency. Atkins, a crypto advocate and former SEC commissioner, is expected to regulate cryptocurrency with a lighter touch than Gary Gensler, who leads the commission under the Biden administration. Gensler, who aggressively fought the industry’s expansion in the US, is set to resign on Inauguration Day.

Bitcoin touched $100,000 just hours after Atkins was announced as Trump’s choice for SEC chair.

The new milestone builds on the stunning rally set in motion since Trump was projected to win the presidency on November 6, which fueled a $6,000 one-day spike in bitcoin that brought it to a new record above $74,000. A week later, it hit $90,000. Bitcoin is up 130% for the year so far, with the post-election rally accounting for a significant portion of its gains. Its performance far outpaces the S&P 500, which is up 28% over the same period.

Trump, once a crypto skeptic, had called it “not money,” labeling it “highly volatile and based on thin air.” But he took a 180-turn in the months leading up to his reelection as he sought to attract younger male voters, who tend to own more crypto compared to other demographic groups.

In July, Trump headlined the largest crypto convention in Nashville, where he vowed to create a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile” and to hold on to bitcoin the government seizes from criminals rather than auctioning it off, which is the current practice.

“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” Trump said. Then in September, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency business called World Liberty Financial. That month, he also purchased burgers from a Manhattan bar frequented by crypto enthusiasts using bitcoin. “History in the making,” he declared.

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