Cryptocurrency speculators are keeping Bitcoin at the milestone level of $100,000, hoping that the newly elected President Donald Trump will take further steps to support the industry.
As of Wednesday morning, the trading price of the digital asset was around $97,000, having risen more than 40% since Trump's election victory on November 5. The Republican plan is to reverse the Biden administration's crackdown on digital assets.
Pro-cryptocurrency candidates are vying for the chairmanship of the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Trump's transition team has also discussed whether to establish the first White House position dedicated to digital asset policy. On Wall Street, there are increasing signs that people are more willing to engage in this controversial market.
Trump's goal
The newly elected president has pledged to make the U.S. the global home of cryptocurrency and even supports the idea of establishing a strategic national Bitcoin reserve, although there are doubts about the feasibility of the latter goal.
TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a report that Bitcoin reserves are at odds with Trump's 'firm' belief that the dollar is the world's key currency.
"Trump is likely to continue to tout Bitcoin reserves on social media or mention it in speeches," Seiberg said. "This is entirely different from the significant political capital required to achieve that goal."
Cryptocurrency supporter Paul Atkins is considered a strong candidate to succeed Gary Gensler as SEC chairman. Gensler initiated a series of enforcement actions against alleged non-compliance and risky behavior in the digital asset space, which was severely impacted in 2022, leading to significant investor losses.
Volatility in South Korea
Earlier, due to political turmoil triggering risk aversion, the prices of Bitcoin and other tokens in South Korea (such as XRP and meme favorite Dogecoin) showed significant divergence from global levels.
Due to deepening disagreements with the opposition, the South Korean president declared martial law on Tuesday evening, only to revoke the shocking move hours later after being condemned by parliament. The global market was caught off guard, with local exchanges seeing Bitcoin prices drop below $72,000 on Tuesday.
According to tracking agency CoinGecko, the entire cryptocurrency market has seen record increases since Trump was elected president, rising by approximately $1.3 trillion. This rebound has rekindled enthusiasm for digital assets, reminiscent of the last frenzy during the pandemic bubble period. On November 22, Bitcoin first broke through $100,000 before retreating.
