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(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin approached the historic $100,000 level, fueled by optimism that President-elect Donald Trump’s support for crypto heralds a boom as the US pivots to friendly regulations in place of a crackdown.
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The largest digital asset rose as much as 4.1% to a record $98,342 on Thursday and was trading slightly above $98,000 as of 1:20 p.m. in New York. The crypto market as a whole has gained approximately $900 billion since Trump’s Nov. 5 election win.
Adding to optimism about a more crypto-friendly incoming administration, current US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said he plans to step down on Jan. 20, the day Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated. Gensler’s tenure was marked by a flurry of enforcement actions by the regulator, a clampdown the industry expects will peter out under Trump.
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Trump’s transition team has begun to hold discussions over whether to create a White House post dedicated to digital-asset policy. The industry is pitching for the position — which would be the first of its kind in the US — to have a direct line to the president-elect, who is now one of crypto’s biggest cheerleaders.
The talks are the latest US boost for digital-asset market sentiment, alongside Bitcoin accumulator MicroStrategy Inc.’s plans to accelerate purchases of the token and the debut of options on the nation’s Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
Landmark Level
Speculators are increasingly focused on when, rather than if, Bitcoin will make the leap to $100,000. Advocates of its claimed role as a modern-day store of value cherish the six-figure number as a symbolic rebuttal of skeptics who see little utility in crypto and decry its links to money laundering and crime.
“Buyers are strangling the sellers,” said IG Australia Pty Market Analyst Tony Sycamore. “While I’m not sure it’s all going to be smooth sailing as it edges closer to the $100,000 mark, the demand appears to be insatiable.”
MicroStrategy, the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin, on Wednesday announced an almost 50% increase in planned sales of convertible senior notes, to $2.6 billion, to fund purchases of the token. The once obscure software maker now bills itself as a Bitcoin treasury company and has a roughly $31 billion stockpile of the digital asset.