Bitcoin hits new high on US crypto deregulation hopes

Singapore — Bitcoin soared to a record high above $81,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favourable regulatory environment after the election of Donald Trump as US president and pro-crypto candidates to Congress.

The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency has now more than doubled from the year’s low of $38,505 and was last at $81,572 having earlier touched a record high of $81,899.

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

Other so-called “Trump trades” — from US stocks to shorting bonds have lost some steam since the election, but cryptocurrencies have not paused for breath.

“Bitcoin’s Trump pump is alive and well ... with Republicans on the cusp of taking the house to confirm a red wave in Congress, it seems the crypto crowd are betting on digital currency deregulation,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, referring to Republican control of both houses.

While Simpson warned Trump’s near-term priorities are likely to lie elsewhere, crypto investors see an end to stepped-up scrutiny under US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler whom Trump has said he will fire.

The cryptocurrency industry spent more than $119m backing pro-crypto congressional candidates and has, by and large, succeeded.

In Ohio, one of the crypto industry’s biggest foes in Congress — Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown was ousted, while pro-crypto candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties won in Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, Alabama and North Carolina.

Trump also unveiled a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, in September and though details about the business have been scarce, investors have taken his personal interest in the sector as a friendly signal.

Billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump ally, is also a proponent of cryptocurrencies.

Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons and executive vice-president of his private conglomerate, The Trump Organization, is a keynote speaker at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi next month, according to the event organisers.

Gains in cryptocurrencies have been broad. Ether rose above $3,200 for the first time in more three months on Monday and was last fetching $3,192. Dogecoin, an alternative cryptocurrency that began as a satirical critique of the 2013 crypto frenzy, was at a three-year high.

Reuters