- Bitcoin finally cracks six digits after Trump names new SEC head.
- The cryptocurrency is up a whopping 139% this year.
- Ripple's XRP and Ethereum's Ether are also rallying.
It happened. Finally.
After hovering near the $100,000 mark for the last couple of weeks, Bitcoin finally crossed the line Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins, a former commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as the new head of the financial watchdog.
Bitcoin’s breakthrough capped a year when Wall Street embraced the cryptocurrency as a bona fide new asset, and investors, emboldened by the election of crypto-friendly Trump, piled in.
Investors have been closely watching the asset toy with the key, six-figure threshold, before slipping off the mark in a multi-week global seesaw.
A few weeks after it fizzled out at $99,600, Bitcoin’s price crossed $100,000 at 9:40 New York time, according to CoinGecko.
Greater riches
By soaring more than 139% this year, Bitcoin demonstrated that the existential angst following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, and the subsequent conviction of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, were mere speed bumps on the expressway to greater riches.
Even Fed chair Jerome Powell is now singing a new tune. “It’s just like gold, only virtual,” he said on Wednesday.
Across social media, Bitcoin investors are celebrating the new milestone, and insisting they will keep their laser eyes focused on new thresholds.
Indeed, analysts at Standard Chartered forecasted Bitcoin will hit $125,000 by the end of the year. Analysts at research firm Bernstein expect Bitcoin to hit $200,000 by December 31, 2025.
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer for exchange-traded fund provider Bitwise, did him one better — earlier this month he said Bitcoin would cross the $500,000 line.
“You’re still early,” Hougan wrote in a note to clients. “In fact, you’ll be ‘early’ until Bitcoin crosses $500K.”
$1 million BTC?
You don’t have to look far to see numerous other predictions — Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX and a leading market influencer — said Bitcoin would eventually hit $1 million thanks to US deficit spending.
To be sure, analysts warn that Bitcoin passing the $100,000 milestone could trigger a drop to $74,000 — the cryptocurrency’s previous record high, achieved in March.
“There’s a high probability of a pullback,” Gracy Chen, CEO of crypto exchange Bitget, told DL News last week. Bitcoin dipped to $93,000s on Tuesday.
About 15% of Bitcoin options trades tracked by basedmoney suggest that some traders are betting that the price could sink to between $45,000 and $60,000.
However, any retraction would be followed by an even bigger jump, market watchers say.
“Sentiment would be: we are so back, we are so dead, we are going to a million,” Scott Melker, renowned crypto analyst wrote.
Ether rallies
In the meantime, Ethereum’s Ether, the second most valuable cryptocurrency, is finally bucking its bearish trend. It broke through $3,800 for the first time since early June, and is up 35% since the US election on November 5.
Even more telling, Solana, Ethereum’s archrival, has skyrocketed 40% in that period, largely thanks to its support for red-hot memecoins. The cryptocurrency reached a new all-time high of $263 on November 23.
Ripple’s XRP is the most sought-after cryptocurrency lately. The asset is up more than 360% in the past thirty days, driven in part by retail investors in South Korea. Analysts expect an explosive rally coming up.
Updated on December 5 to report on Donald Trump’s nominee for SEC chair.
Pedro Solimano is a Markets Correspondent for DL News based in Buenos Aires. Contact the author at psolimano@dlnews.com.
