Bitcoin hits $100,000, lifted by hopes of a crypto-friendly Washington
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bitcoin traded above $100,000 for the first time, powered by a wave of investors betting that President-elect Donald Trump will turn U.S. government policy into an engine of growth for crypto.
The world’s largest digital currency has staged an extraordinary rally since Election Day, surging more than 40% in just four weeks and setting one record after another. During the campaign, Trump dropped his earlier skepticism of bitcoin and promised to “end Joe Biden’s war on crypto." In return, crypto has embraced the new U.S. administration—a striking reversal from its early years as a cypherpunk rebellion against the establishment.
No longer an outsider to political power, crypto is newly ascendant in Washington. Its march toward the mainstream has enriched a youthful cohort of digital-currency tycoons and swelled the value of the asset class to more than $3 trillion. “I find it very ironic," said Tim Swanson, head of market intelligence at Clearmatics, a London-based blockchain company.
“The whole purpose of bitcoin was to create an alternative payment infrastructure outside of traditional finance and government surveillance. Now some bitcoiners are looking to embrace governments, or even get subsidies." Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, proposed it in 2008 as a way to make payments without relying on the traditional banking system. Many of bitcoin’s early fans were libertarians who saw it as a way to let individuals control their financial destinies, free from the oversight of nosy banks and governments.
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