Bitcoin jumped to a record high, part of a wave of trades across global markets in response to Trump’s win. The largest digital asset rose as much as 9% to $75,372 as early results showed Trump barrelling towards a win. It traded at just below $74,000 as of 10:40am Wednesday in London as networks declared Trump had won the race, setting him up for a second term in the White House. The last peak was in March, when investors were cheered by inflows into US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
Bitcoin is viewed by many as a so-called Trump Trade because the former president embraced digital assets during his campaign after a major push by the industry. Crypto muscled onto the high table of politics by deploying a giant campaign-finance war chest to further its agenda.
Trump vowed to make the US the crypto capital of the planet, create a strategic Bitcoin stockpile and appoint regulators who love digital assets. Harris adopted a more measured approach, pledging to support a regulatory framework for the industry. In contrast, the Securities & Exchange Commission under the Biden administration pursued a crackdown via a flurry of enforcement actions.
“The crypto industry feels like it’s been operating with one hand tied behind its back for years, and it senses that might be coming to an end,” said Matthew Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management. “People are starting to position for the next few years in crypto.”
The prospect of friendlier US crypto rules led to gains across the digital-asset market.