Bitcoin on cusp of $80,000 for first time on optimism over Trump

By Sidhartha Shukla

Bitcoin is closing in on $80,000 for the first time, boosted by President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of digital assets and the prospect of a Congress featuring pro-crypto lawmakers.

The cryptocurrency climbed as much as 4.3 per cent to an unprecedented $79,771 on Sunday and remained near $79,000 as of 2:05 pm in Singapore. Smaller tokens like Cardano and meme-crowd favorite Dogecoin also rallied.

Trump vowed on the campaign trail to put the US at the center of the digital-asset industry, including creating a strategic Bitcoin stockpile and appointing regulators enamored with digital assets. He emerged from Tuesday’s election in a stronger position than expected — his Republican Party has control of the Senate and is on the verge of holding a narrow majority in the House.

“With the dust from Trump’s victory still settling down, it was only a matter of time before a run-up of some sort occurred given the perception of Trump being pro-crypto, and that’s what we’re seeing now,” said Le Shi, Hong Kong managing director at market-making firm Auros.

ETFs, Fed

Bitcoin has added about 90 per cent so far in 2024, helped by robust demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds and interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The rise in the largest digital token, which scaled fresh records after the US vote, exceeds the returns from investments such as stocks and gold.

The ETFs, powered by BlackRock Inc.’s $35 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust, posted a record daily net inflow of almost $1.4 billion on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A day earlier, the iShares ETF’s trading volume jumped to an all-time peak — all signs of how Trump’s victory is reshaping crypto.

Trump’s stance contrasts with a crackdown on digital assets under President Joe Biden. Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler repeatedly labeled the sector as rife with fraud and misconduct. The agency turned the screws on crypto following a 2022 market rout and a litany of collapses, notably the bankruptcy of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraudulent FTX exchange.

Digital-asset companies and executives spent heavily during the US election campaign to promote candidates viewed as favorable toward their interests.

“Trump has promised supportive regulation, and the sweep of the House and the Senate makes the passage of crypto bills much more likely,” wrote Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter.