LONDON: Bitcoin hit a record high of more than $109,000 on Monday as Donald Trump, who has signaled plans to deregulate the cryptocurrency sector, prepares to be sworn in as US president.
Bitcoin rose to an all-time high of $109,241 ahead of Trump’s inauguration ceremony, before falling back to $107,765.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has soared since Trump won the presidential election in November, with Bitcoin surpassing $100,000 for the first time in early December.
It came after he nominated cryptocurrency supporter Paul Atkins to lead the US securities regulator, reinforcing optimism that the new president will deregulate the sector.
Despite calling cryptocurrencies a “scam”, Trump changed his position and was a great defender of them during his election campaign.
Over the weekend, it launched its own cryptocurrency, appropriately named $TRUMP, sparking feverish buying that pushed its market capitalization to several billion dollars.
Meanwhile, Melania Trump also launched her own cryptocurrency on Sunday, which was trading at around $12.03, with a market capitalization of $1.9 billion, it reported. Reuters.
When Bitcoin hit the all-time high of $100,000, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! WELCOME!!! Together, we will make America great again.” !”
Cryptocurrencies have been in the news since their creation, from their extreme volatility to the collapse of several industry giants, including the exchange platform FTX.
Bitcoin was conceived in 2008 by a person or group writing under the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
It was presented as a way to break free from major financial institutions by establishing a decentralized platform for transactions.
Digital currency is created – or “mined” – as a reward when powerful computers solve complex problems to validate transactions made on a tamper-proof ledger known as a blockchain.
Bitcoin has long been criticized for being the currency of choice for making untraceable payments on the so-called dark web, a hidden part of the Internet used for criminal activities.
The asset has often been attacked for facilitating money laundering and enabling extortion through ransomware attacks.
Its carbon footprint has also come under scrutiny because cryptocurrency mining requires enormous amounts of energy.
