Bitcoin’s price topped $106,000 on Donald Trump’s apparent plans for a bitcoin reserve.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency reached that new record Monday (Dec. 16), the latest in a series of milestones in the wake of the pro-crypto president-elect’s victory last month.
In an interview the day before on CNBC, Trump suggested his administration would adopt pro-crypto policies and overhaul regulations for the digital currencies.
“We’re gonna do something great with crypto because we don’t want China, or anybody else … but others are embracing it, and we want to be ahead,” Trump said, adding that his plans involved a strategic reserve, much like America’s oil reserve.
The remarks sparked enthusiasm among crypto enthusiasts.
“We’re in blue sky territory here,” Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, told Reuters. “The next figure the market will be looking for is $110,000. The pullback that a lot of people were waiting for just didn’t happen, because now we’ve got this news.”
The Reuters report notes that investor sentiment also got a boost when MicroStrategy listed on the Nasdaq, something that will bring about greater inflows for the “software firm turned bitcoin buyer,” as the report describes it.
The report, citing data from CoinGecko, goes on to say that world governments possessed 2.2% of bitcoin’s total supply as of July, with the U.S. holding almost 200,000 bitcoins valued at more than $20 billion at current prices.
Earlier this month, bitcoin’s price topped $100,000 for the first time after Trump announced plans to name a crypto advocate to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As chair of the commission, Paul Atkins — a former SEC commissioner himself — would oversee a regulator that has in recent years cracked down on the crypto sector.
“If the SEC under his leadership adopts a more cooperative crypto tone, it could unlock new opportunities for Web3 innovation. The shift comes at a critical moment, with several high-profile lawsuits — like those involving Coinbase and Ripple — reshaping how crypto companies operate in the U.S,” PYMNTS wrote after Trump announced his pick.
“A regulatory framework that balances investor protection with the sector’s need for experimentation could establish the U.S. as a global hub for crypto — something the industry has been clamoring for.”