Bitcoin reached a new high above $109,000 on Monday as Donald Trump, who has hinted at plans to de-regulate the cryptocurrency sector, prepares to be inaugurated in as US president. Bitcoin rose to an all-time high of $109,241 ahead of Trump’s inaugural event, but fell back to $107,765 about 0740 GMT. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has skyrocketed since Trump won the presidential election in November, exceeding $100,000 for the first time in early December.
It occurred after he named bitcoin supporter Paul Atkins to lead the US Securities and Exchange Commission, fuelling speculation that the new president will de-regulate the industry. Despite originally calling cryptocurrencies a “scam,” Trump changed his mind and was a strong supporter of them during his election campaign.
Over the weekend, he introduced his own cryptocurrency, suitably named $TRUMP, which sparked frantic buying and pushed its market value skyrocketing to several billion dollars. When bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 milestone, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU ARE WELCOME!!! Together, we can make America great again!”
Cryptocurrencies have made news since their inception, from their extraordinary volatility to the failure of several industry titans, most notably the FTX exchange platform. Bitcoin was created in 2008 by an individual or group writing under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It was promoted as a way to break away from traditional financial institutions by creating a decentralised transaction platform.
The digital money is created — or “mined” — as a reward for powerful computers solving tough problems to confirm transactions on a meddle-proof registry known as the blockchain. Bitcoin has long been accused for being the preferred money for making anonymous payments on the so-called dark web, a secret section of the internet used for illegal activity.
The asset has frequently been targeted for aiding money laundering and allowing extortion via ransomware attacks. Its carbon footprint has also come under investigation, as mining cryptocurrency needs a lot of energy.
