Bitcoin surges above $100,000 for the first time as Trump picks pro-crypto SEC chair

By Elisabeth Buchwald and John Towfighi, CNN

New York (CNN) — Bitcoin hit $100,000 for the first time late Wednesday, surging to a new record after President-elect Donald Trump unveiled administration picks seen as holding the keys to ushering in crypto-friendly policies when he takes office in January.

Chief among the picks is Paul Atkins, whom Trump intends to nominate to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates cryptocurrency.

Atkins, a crypto advocate and former SEC commissioner, is expected to regulate cryptocurrency with a lighter touch than Gary Gensler, who leads the commission under the Biden administration. Gensler, who aggressively fought the industry’s expansion in the US, is set to resign on Inauguration Day.

Bitcoin touched $100,000 just hours after Atkins was announced as Trump’s choice for SEC chair. By Thursday morning it rose above $103,000.

The new milestone builds on the stunning rally set in motion since Trump was projected to win the presidency on November 6, which fueled a $6,000 one-day spike in bitcoin that brought it to a new record above $74,000. A week later, it hit $90,000.

“CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Thursday morning.

Bitcoin is up more than 130% for the year so far, with the post-election rally accounting for a significant portion of its gains. Its performance far outpaces the S&P 500, which is up 28% over the same period.

Trump, once a crypto skeptic, had called it “not money,” labeling it “highly volatile and based on thin air.” But he took a 180-turn in the months leading up to his reelection as he sought to attract younger male voters, who tend to own more crypto compared to other demographic groups.

In July, Trump headlined the largest crypto convention in Nashville, where he vowed to create a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile” and to hold on to bitcoin the government seizes from criminals rather than auctioning it off, which is the current practice.

“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” Trump said.

Then in September, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency business called World Liberty Financial.

That month, he also purchased burgers from a Manhattan bar frequented by crypto enthusiasts using bitcoin. “History in the making,” he declared.

Additionally, Trump’s media company, which owns Truth Social, is reportedly in talks to buy crypto trading forum Bakkt, according to the Financial Times.

“If you like bitcoin at $100,000, you’re going to love it at $1 million,” Anthony Pompliano, a well-known crypto supporter and founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management, an investment firm, said in a post on X Wednesday night.

Courting crypto paid off for Trump

The cryptocurrency industry threw its weight behind Trump and the Republican Party during this election cycle, with leading super PACs donating around $131 million to elect pro-crypto candidates in congressional races.

The Trump campaign, which began accepting crypto donations in May, raised millions from the move.

Now the community that helped cement his victory is banking on a wave of pro-crypto policies, a reversal from the last four years under the Biden administration.

Trump appears ready to oblige. In addition to Atkins, he’s nominated Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, a prominent cheerleader for Tether, the company behind one of the world’s biggest crypto assets.

Additionally, he’s considering creating the first-ever White House role solely dedicated to crypto policy, Bloomberg reported.

But crypto hasn’t found fans among many current financial regulators. For instance, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell labeled bitcoin as “a speculative asset.”

In his view, bitcoin has many of the same qualities as gold, which US consumers by and large aren’t using as their main form of payment. “It’s not a competitor for the dollar. It’s really a competitor for gold,” he said on Wednesday at a conference.

Powell himself, he said, is “not allowed” to own any cryptocurrenecies.

This story has been updated with additional information and context.

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