President-elect Donald Trump is gloating as Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, reached $100,000 for the first time.
He’s apparently taking full credit.
“CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!! Together, we will Make America Great Again!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning.
Bitcoin rose following his election victory last month, and after Trump announced that he would nominate cryptocurrency supporter Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bitcoin stood at $69,374 on election day before reaching $103,713 Wednesday, CoinDesk noted. After the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX two years ago, Bitcoin dropped to below $17,000.
While Bitcoin futures are up four percent, the cryptocurrency was at just below $103,000 early Thursday. Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year.
Cryptocurrency is digital money in an online network without any centralized power, and as such, it usually isn’t backed by any governments or banks.
Bitcoin, which can be very volatile, is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, with Dogecoin, Tether, and Ethereum also increasing in popularity over the last few years.
While some investors view cryptocurrency as a digital alternative, the vast majority of financial transactions on a daily basis are still done using fiat currencies.
The president-elect was once skeptical of crypto. He said in a 2021 interview that it “seems like a scam,” adding: “I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.”
He has since vowed to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet,” as well as to establish a “strategic reserve” of the currency. The Trump campaign accepted cryptocurrency donations, and he campaigned at a Bitcoin conference this summer. His family launched World Liberty Financial, a trader of cryptocurrencies.
Power players in the crypto field hope that Trump’s win may mean even fewer regulations and more legitimacy.
Trump moved in that direction Wednesday with the appointment of Atkins, a former SEC commissioner under President George W Bush. Atkins has argued against market regulation and he joined the cryptocurrency advocacy organization Token Alliance in 2017.
The SEC has imposed restrictions on the cryptocurrency industry under the current chair Gary Gensler, going after several companies for violating securities laws. The chief legal officer of Robinhood has called Gensler’s view of crypto “rigid” and “hostile.” Gensler is set to step aside when Trump enters the White House.
But the SEC did approve spot Bitcoin ETFs in January. The exchange trade funds allow investors to get a stake in the cryptocurrency without purchasing it.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Bitcoin was at just over $5,000. By November 2021, it had reached almost $69,000 and subsequently decreased as the Federal Reserve enacted rate hikes. In late 2022, it fell below $17,000 amid the FTX collapse.
Investors started to return when inflation began to decrease and gains rose amid the approval of spot ETFs. Experts still argue that especially smaller investors should remain careful, with the incoming Trump administration possibly imposing fewer regulations.
Kaiko research analyst Adam Morgan McCarthy urged investors to “keep it simple.”
“Don’t take on more risk than you can afford to,” he said, noting that there isn’t a “magic eight ball” to see into the future.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
