Authors: Hannah Lang and Laura Matthews
(Reuters) – It breached $90,000 on Wednesday, hitting an all-time high in a rally that shows no sign of easing expectations that Donald Trump as U.S. president will be a boon for cryptocurrencies.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has become one of the most eye-catching moves in the week since the election, hitting a record high of $93,480 on Wednesday before paring gains.
It recently dropped slightly to $88,185, but has increased 32% since the November 5 election.
Smaller peer ether has also surged 37% since Election Day, while dogecoin, an alternative volatile token promoted by billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk, has surged more than 150%.
“Since the election, we have seen that the market has been hopeful or aware of what this could mean for bitcoin in the medium to long term – a pro-Bitcoin administration, a Senate, and potential legislation that not only gives U.S. citizens the right to self-police bitcoin, but potentially making bitcoin a strategic reserve asset for the U.S. Treasury,” said Damon Polistina, head of research at Eaglebrook.
He said regulatory uncertainty is a major cloud hanging over the sector and a hurdle for advisors allocating bitcoin to their clients.
Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and build up a national stockpile of bitcoin.
It’s unclear how or when this could happen, but the possibility has caused a surge in speculation in mining and trading cryptocurrency stocks.
Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale Investments, said that “the election results will enable large, regulated companies such as banks, custodians and exchanges to use public blockchain technology in a way they have not in the past.”
Software Company (ETR:) and bitcoin investor MicroStrategy announced that it spent approximately $2 billion on bitcoin purchases between October 31 and November 10. Stocks hit record highs on Tuesday.
Cryptocurrency investors see an end to increased scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission under Trump. Trump and his sons announced a modern crypto company, World Liberty Financial, in September.
“Many people believe that we will inevitably reach a bitcoin price of 100,000. dollars,” said JJ Kinahan, CEO of IG North America and president of its retail brokerage Tasmatrade.
“I expect bitcoin will continue to gain momentum, at least until the inauguration, when we find out what the real plans are to get there.”
Others advised investors against jumping into the cryptocurrency frenzy.
“When bitcoin reaches 90,000 dollars and reaches a new all-time high, investors should remain cautious about potential volatility in the future,” said Georgi Koreli, CEO of Hinkal, a blockchain-based private transaction protocol. “This doesn’t mean we won’t see 95,000 soon. dollars or even 100 thousand dollars, but rather that BTC may pause or reverse to regain its strength.”
