Delhi Delhi. Bitcoin hit a record high above $81,000 on Monday on expectations of a surge in cryptocurrencies in a favourable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as US president and the election of pro-crypto candidates to Congress. The world’s largest and best-known cryptocurrency has now more than doubled from its year’s low of $38,505 and was last at $81,572, before hitting a record high of $81,899.
Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and accumulate a national reserve of bitcoin. Other so-called ‘Trump trades’ — from shorting U.S. stocks to shorting bonds — have eased somewhat since the election, but cryptocurrencies haven’t even taken a pause to breathe. “Bitcoin’s Trump-pump is alive and well… With Republicans on the verge of taking over the House to confirm a red wave in Congress, it seems the crypto crowd is betting on digital-currency regulation,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, citing Republican control of both houses.
While Simpson cautions that Trump’s near-term priorities are likely elsewhere, crypto investors see an end to tighter scrutiny under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, whom Trump has said he would fire. The cryptocurrency industry spent more than $119 million to support pro-crypto congressional candidates and was successful overall.
In Ohio, one of the crypto industry’s biggest foes in Congress – Senate Banking Committee Chairman 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 remain scant, investors have taken his personal interest in the sector as a friendly sign. A key Trump ally, billionaire Elon Musk, is also a supporter of cryptocurrencies.Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons and the executive vice president of his private group, The Trump Organization, will be the keynote speaker at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi next month, according to event organizers.
