Bitcoin soars past US$81,000 for first time as crypto token becomes totem for new Trump era
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Bitcoin hit an unprecedented US$81,497 early in Asia trading on Nov 11 and was changing hands at US$81,244 as at 4.48pm in Singapore.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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SINGAPORE – Bitcoin rallied past US$81,000 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.
Trump was declared the winner in Arizona in recent polls, marking a clean sweep of the seven US battleground states. His decisive victory in the presidential election has prompted celebratory chest-thumping from the digital asset industry, which spent more than US$100 million (S$132.7 million) backing a range of crypto-friendly candidates.
The token climbed as much as 6.1 per cent on Nov 10. It hit an unprecedented US$81,497 early in Asia trading on Nov 11 and was changing hands at US$81,244 as at 4.48pm in Singapore.
Bullish sentiment lifted smaller coins too, including a surge in Dogecoin, a meme-crowd favourite promoted by Trump supporter Elon Musk.
“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 Mr Le Shi, Hong Kong managing director at market-making firm Auros.
Trump vowed on the campaign trail to put the US at the centre of the digital asset industry, including creating a strategic Bitcoin stockpile and appointing regulators enamoured with digital assets. Jubilant traders, for the moment, are paying little heed to questions such as the speed of likely implementation or whether a strategic stockpile is a realistic possibility.
His broader agenda of stoking domestic economic growth, tax cuts and reducing red tape has fuelled a buying spree across stocks, credit and crypto. The S&P 500 stock index last week hit its 50th record in 2024.
Bitcoin has added about 92 per cent so far in 2024, helped by robust demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) 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’s US$35 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust, posted a record daily net inflow of almost US$1.4 billion on Nov 7, 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.
US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler repeatedly labelled 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 favourable towards 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 Ms Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter. BLOOMBERG
