Since Donald Trump won the election on November 5, the price of bitcoin has increased by more than 50%, and it has already reached a new record high. In Monday's Asian trade, the biggest cryptocurrency in the world briefly surpassed $106,000 (£83,890) before dropping down to about $105,000.
Compared to the Biden White House, the incoming Trump administration is perceived as being far more receptive to cryptocurrency. The US president-elect reaffirmed on Thursday that he is thinking of building a national reserve of the virtual currency, analogous to the nation's strategic oil reserve.
The FOMO (fear of missing out) surge is gaining traction, and the Bitcoin rally since the election has been parabolic," Peter McGuire of trading platform XM.com told the BBC. "Many investors believe $120,000 is achievable by the end of the year and then in 2025 there's talk of greater than $150,000 by mid-year" . Trump appointed Silicon Valley businessman David Sacks as his czar for cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI) earlier this month.
Additionally, Trump has declared his intention to appoint pro-crypto lawyer Paul Atkins of Washington as the next head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency that oversees Wall Street. Gary Gensler, the current head of the SEC, announced last month that he will step down on January 20, the day of Trump's inauguration.
"I am grateful to President Biden for giving me this amazing responsibility. On the social media site X, Mr. Gensler posted, "The SEC has fulfilled our mission and upheld the law without fear or favor." Following the SEC chairman's legal action against bitcoin firms, Trump had earlier announced plans to fire Mr. Gensler on "day one" of his incoming administration, which caused controversy in some quarters.
