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The price of Bitcoin has surpassed the much-anticipated $100,000 milestone for the first time last week. However, by Thursday afternoon, the leading cryptocurrency experienced a pullback, trading at approximately $99,140.00, reflecting a slight increase of 0.28% according to Coin Metrics.
This decline followed a peak of $103,844.05 reached on Wednesday night, as some investors opted to take profits.
The surge in Bitcoin’s value coincided with President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement regarding his intention to nominate Paul Atkins as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This appointment could fulfil a key promise made by Trump during his campaign to the cryptocurrency community—replacing Gary Gensler, who has been viewed unfavourably within the crypto sector due to his enforcement-heavy regulatory stance.
In a post on Truth Social Thursday morning, Trump expressed his congratulations to Bitcoin enthusiasts, stating, “you’re welcome” for his role in helping propel Bitcoin to $100,000 and emphasised that “together, we will make America great again.”
For long-time Bitcoin investors who have held onto their assets through various market fluctuations—often referred to as “HODL’ing”—this moment represents a great victory. These investors have weathered numerous boom-and-bust cycles while facing scepticism from government and financial institutions.
Bitcoin’s inception was rooted in anti-establishment ideals—its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, envisioned it as a “peer-to-peer version of electronic cash” that would enable direct online payments without intermediaries during the 2008 financial crisis.
In recent years, however, Bitcoin has proven its worth to many institutional investors. Major firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Invesco launched the first spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year—an event likened to Bitcoin’s “IPO” moment—which has influenced its price trajectory.
Bitcoin’s ascent to $100,000 had been widely anticipated since the U.S. presidential election. However, enthusiastic investors propelled it toward this target much sooner than expected; it briefly touched $99,849.99 on November 22.
There is considerable optimism surrounding Trump’s potential pro-crypto initiatives in the coming year. These may include establishing a national strategic Bitcoin reserve, eliminating taxes on crypto transactions, and facilitating increased access to public equity markets for cryptocurrencies through more IPOs.
As of now, Bitcoin has surged over 133% in 2024 and has risen by 42% since the election.