The native coin hit a new all-time high on Wednesday, overcoming a psychological barrier 100,000 USD then climb even higher. This increase comes amid growing excitement in the cryptocurrency industry, predicting that the election of Donald Trump will lead to looser regulation and more blockchain innovation in the United States.
Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark around 9:30 p.m. ET and continued to rise Wednesday night, trading at around $103,600 before giving up some of those gains. Bitcoin was trading around $103,000 at midnight EST.
The cryptocurrency market is notoriously volatile and unlike the stock market, it is difficult to determine exact prices as there are slight differences between different exchanges. On Wednesday evening, Bitcoin was trading above $100,000 on each exchange while other cryptocurrencies also soared.
Prices of so-called altcoins also soared, with tokens for blockchains like Ethereum and Dogecoin rising around 7%. However, unlike previous periods of cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin bull run did not lift all coins.
Solana, Ethereum’s main competitor, remained largely unchanged. Meanwhile, the XRP token linked to blockchain company Ripple fell about 10% – this drop came after XRP. climb a remarkable 65% last week.
Bitcoin’s new record high came the same day President-elect Donald Trump announced he had achieved a new record high. chose Paul Atkinsa libertarian and former regulator, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cryptocurrency market responded with joy to Atkins’ proposed appointment. Atkins is expected to succeed current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, a disciple of progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is fiercely anti-crypto and is criticized by blockchain executives as well as many widely despised by those in the financial community because of his aggressive management strategy.
More broadly, the cryptocurrency market has grown thanks to the widespread popularity of new ETFs launched by the likes of slat and Fidelity, which offers conservative investors a way to buy Bitcoin as stocks.
Bitcoin’s latest all-time high comes amid a new cryptocurrency market bull earlier this year, when Bitcoin was trading at around $42,000.
The current price fever comes as the cryptocurrency is in the midst of its fourth major bull cycle. Launched in 2009, Bitcoin—the original cryptocurrency—was traded for pennies in its early years before its first major breakthrough in 2013, which saw it surpass $1000. Subsequent boom periods saw Bitcoin reach an all-time high of just under $20,000 in 2017 and then hit new highs of around $65,000 in 2021.
